THE 



HISTORY OF AUBURN 



HEl^RY HALL 

AUBURN, N. Y. 



"Hoc illud est prrecipue in cognitione rerum salubre ac frugiferum, omnis et 
exempli documenti in illustri posita moniTmento intiieri: inde tiln tuEeque rei- 
puMicse, qxiod imitere, capias." 



■■X 



AUBURN : 

PUBLISHED BY DENNIS BRO'S & CO. 
1869. 



•At 1432 



Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the month of March, 1869, by 

HEKRY HALL, 

In the Clerk's Office, of the District Court of the United States, for the 

Northern District of New York. 






TO 



WILLIAM H. SEWAED, 



3NTERPEISING CITIZEN AND DISTINGUISHED STATESMAN : 



THE PORBMOST POK MANY TEAES IN 



PROMOTING THE INTERESTS OF AUBURN ; 



EMINENTLY IDENTIFIED WITH 



ITION, INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT, NATIONAL EXTENSION, 



THE RIGHTS OF MAN ; 

THIS HISTORY OP THE CITY OP HIS RESIDENCE IS 

RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED 

BY 

THE AUTHOR. 



OOl^TElSTTS. 



CHAPTER I. 



The Cayugas, l 

Preliminary Keinarks— Origin of the word Iroquois— Native Names— The 
Iroquois become Independent— Settle in New York— Their Wars— Origin 
of the Cayugas— The League— Its Ascendancy— Territory of the Cayugas- 
Excellence of their Crops— Assistance to other Nations— Customs, etc.— 
Dissolution of the League— Purchase of the Cayuga Territory— Logan— Port 
Hill— Fort on the Olmstead Farm. 



CHAPTER II. 

The Settlement of Aubuen 32 

Location of Auburn— Causes of Settlement— Award of the Military Lots-^*. 
Col. Hardenburgh— The Indian ViUage— Arrivals— The Gig-Mill— Koads— 
Cemeteries— Hardenburgh' 8 Comers— Jehiel Clark— New Settlers— The Militia 
—Town Government— Comers in 1800— Slaves— School-Houses— Seneca Tum- 
pike— Genesee Street Bridge— Foot Eaces— Frame Buildings— The Game — 
Farmer's Inn— First National Anniversary— Court House— Auburn Named— 
Tavem-Keeping Age— Continual Arrivals— County Clerk's Office— Western 
Federalist— Bams— Clinton's Description— First Congregational Society- 
Episcopal Society— Auburn Academy— List of Subscribers — Auburn Library 
Association— War of 1812— The Auburn Companies— The Fright— Cayuga 
Patriot. 



VI (;<)NTKNTS. 

CHAPTER III. , 

Annals op the Village prom 1815 to 1837 119 

Roads— The Village in 1815— Incorporation— The Fire Engine— SidewalkB— 
The Prison— Its Effects- Auburn Bank— Cayuga County Bank— The Churches 
—Bible Societies- Medical Society— First Sunday School— Agricultural Asso- 
ciation—Columbian Garden— Free Press- Cotton Mill— Paper Mill— Others- 
Auburn Market— La Fayette's Reception — 4th of July, 1823— Medical College 
—Gospel Messenger— General Union for Promoting Observance of the Sab- 
bath—Bank Coffee House— American Hotel— The 33d Artillery— The Fusiliers 
—Improvements — The Erie Canal Celebration— Auburn and Owasco Canal — 
Watson's Letter— Big Dam Celebration— Raihoad Convention at Syracuse- 
Auburn and Syracuse Railroad — Snow-Storm of 1836 — Auburn College- 
Town Hall and Market— The Great Excited Year. 

CHAPTER IV. 

Thb Panic, the Revival op Enterprise, etc 20S 

Streets First Lit— The Fire — The Panic— Suspension of Specie Payments— 
Shinplasters— Enterprise Dead— Drowning of the Students— Water Cures- 
Presbyterian Convention— Auburn and Syracuse Railroad — Excitement 
about the Prison— Patriot War— Heniy Clay— Martin Van Buren— Taverns- 
Politics in 1840— The A. L. A.— Second Agricultural Society— The Silk Mono- 
mania— Auburn and Rochester Railroad— Temperance Celebration— Martha 
Washington Society— John Quincy Adams— Dirge of the Elms— Auburn 
Woolen Company— The Telegraph— Dailies— State Fair— Incorporation of the 
City— Schools— High School— Female College— Young Ladies' Institute— Fort 
Hill— Improvement of the Outlet— Auburn Water Works— Gas Company— 
Raihoad'History— Oswego Starch Factory— Merchants' Union Express Co. 

CHAPTER V. 

The Auburn Prison 341 

The Old Criminal Code— Newgate— Defects of the New York System— Auburn 
Prison — Injurious Effects — Solitary Confinement — Classification- Captain 
Lynds— Severity of Discipline— Contract System— Rachel Welch— Govern- 
ment— Von Eck— Mechanics' Interest— Description of the Prison— System- 
Insane Asylum. 



CONTENTS. Vll 

CHAPTER VI. 

The Theological Seminary STO 

Description— Dr. Mason's School— Action of the Synod of Geneva— Meeting- 
at Auburn— The Subscription— Incorporation— Comer-stone Laid— Induction 
of the Professors — The Course— Gloomy Prospects— Tappan's gift— Suspen- 
sion— Reopening— Progress to 1868. 



CHAPTER VII. 

The War Record 395 

Notes of Preparation— Kennedy's Action— The First Volunteer Company— 
The President's Call— The 49th— The Furore- Public Meeting— Excited Sun- 
day—Mass Meeting— Recruiting— Presentations— Departure of the Five Com- 
. panics- Organization of the 19th— Shoddy— Meeting at the American— New 
Regiment— Recruiting for which Begins— The Barracks— The Pumpkin Pies- 
Colors of the 75th— Organization of the Regiment— tSth Marches— Kennedy's 
Battery— Segoine's Cane — Military Committee— The 3d Regiment — Mas» 
Meeting— The 111th Full— Its Officers— Snyder's Company— Welling' s Regi- 
ment— 111th goes to the Front — Officers of 138th — Bounties — Beardsley 
Resigns— His Resignation not Accepted— Last Call of the War Committee- 
Organization of Dwight's Regiment— Union League— Board of Enrolment- 
Return of the 19th— The Draft— The Procession— First Call of 1864— Ward 
Committees— Second Call— 193d New York Volunteers— Bounty Jumpers- 
Snow Pi-ovost Marshal— Officers of the 193d— Close of the War— Summing Up 
—The Ladies' Union Aid Society. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

The City op Auburn, 1868 \ 470 

\ 
Location— Altitude — Appearance — Public Buildings — Prison — Seminary- 
Orphan Asylum— The Churches— Schools— Points of View— Newspapers— 
Manufactures— The Dams and Mills— The Population— Pursuits— Productions 
— Climate— Health. 



Vlll CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER IX. 

Civil List op Auburn and Cayuga County 50" 

CHAPTER X. 

BlOORAPHIES OF CITIZENS OP AUEUHN 529 



INDEX. 



Aurelius, erection of 33 

government of 58 

Auburn, naming of 88 

Clinton's sketch 94 

in 1869 470 

College 203 

Academy 101 

Agricultural Society 155, 245 

Auburn Gazette 157 

Journal 158 

Hydraulic Association.. 217 

Advertiser 270 

Literary Association 241 

House 176,236 

Adams, J. Q., visit of 259 

Auburn Tool Company 485 

Agricultural Works 488 

Aldermen 409 

Agents of the prison 514 

Amerman, Deacon, Biography of 576 

Big Elm 49,70 

Bounty Lands 33 

Bridges 66, 70, 173 

Bank of Auburn 139 

Cayuga County 142 

Baptists 146 

Bible Societies. . .■ 147 

Bank Coffee House 170 

Barber's Woolen Mill 494 

Barber, Sheldon & Co 499 

Burt, Dr. H., Biography of 537 

Beardsley, John, Biography of. . . 566 

Counties, division of. 32 

Cayuga County formed 59 

County Seat, location ol'l 84 

Court House 86, 175 

Churches, 1st Presbyterian 68, 97, 143, 
476. 

2d Presbyterian 148 

C^entral 477 

St. Peters.. 69,98,149,467 

St. John's 478 

Methodist 144, 477 

Holy Family 145 

St. Mai-y's 477 

Baptist 146 

Universalist ]4() 



Cayuga Patriot 116 

Tocsin 118 

Democrat 158,483 

Columbian Garden 156 

Cotton MiU 159, 495 

Canal, Erie 178 

Auburn and Owasco 189 

Chronicles 225 

Corrector 225 

Clay Henry, visit of 230 

Cayuga Chief Manufacturing Co . 491 

Climate of Auburn 503 

Clerks of Cayuga County 517 

Clai-y, Joseph, Biography of 551 

Casey, George, " " . 560 

Chase, Captain, " " 585 

Drowning of students 218 

Dirge of the Ehns 261 

Dams 93, 194, 484 

Dodge & Stevenson M'f 'g Co. . .. 492 

District Attorneys 518 

Dennis, C. C, Biography of 547 

Fusiliers 172 

Forts, Indian 25, 30 

Fort Hill Cemetery 290 

Fire Department 126, 134 

Free Press , 157 

Female Seminary 177, 287 

Fire of '37 209 

Farmers' Manufacturing Co 499 

Game 73 

Genesee Koad, Old 43, 48 

New 57 

Gospel Messenger , 168 

Gas Company 309 

Garrow, N., Biography of 540 

Hayden, Wm. & Co 497 

Hussey Manufacturing Works . . . 499 

Hills, Horace, Biography of 553 

Geo. M. " " 544 

Hagaman, Johnl." " 568 

Hulbert, JohnW." " 572 

Inspectors of the prison 513 

Indian village of Wasco 44 

Judges, County, etc 520 

Kennedy's Battery 434 

Logan 23 



INDEX. 



Levaniia Gazette {l"2 

La Fayette, visit of 164 

Lunatic A«ylum 3t)(> 

Mills 40, 53, 67, i>3, 150, 2ti4, 483 

MailB, first M 

Militia lOS, 170 

Medical Society 151 

College 106 

Market 163, 217 

Martha Washington Society 255 

Merchants' Union Express 334 

Morning News 483 

Mayors of Auburn 409 

Members of Assembly 523 

Congress 538 

Muir, Robert, Biography of. 555 

Nineteenth Regiment 403 

Northern Christian Advocate 48;3 

Independent 488 

Outlet, improvement of 29*^ 

death of fish in 154 

Oswego Stiirch Factory 337 

111th Regiment 428 

i;i8th " 4:30 

100th •■ 441 

t93d •' 460 

Officers of the late war 411, 423, 

425, 434, 440, 445, 400, 462. 

Orphan Asylum 475 

Orphans' Friend 483 

Osborne, D. M. & Co 488 

Prison 130, 222, 341, 474 

Paper Mill 160 

Park 177, 207 

Presbyterian Convention 220 

Patriot War 225 

Patent Grinders 498 

Population of Auburn.. . 00, 121, 172, 
272, 502, 500. 

Postmasters 512 

Presidential Electors . '. 520 

Roads 48, 119, 472 

Railroads, Aub. & Syr.. 190, 220, 318 
Port Byron & Aub .... 316 

Auburn & Canal 316 

Aub. &Roch 201, 318 

Ithaca & Aub .... 217, 319 
L. O., A. & N. Y.... 322 
Southern Central .330 



Richardson, J. L., Biography of.. 
John, " ".. 

Settlement, First 

Slaves 43, 

Settlers, Arrival of .50, 55, 66, 

78. 83. 

Seneca Turnpike 

Stages 

Schools 04, 101, 272, 284, 

Schools, Sunday 

Snow storm of '30 

Shinplasters 

Sherwood, Isaac, Biogi-aphy of. . . 

Silk, culture, etc 

Seventy-fifth Regiment 

State Armory 

Steel Tempering Works 

Seward, Wm. H. Biography of. . . 
Seymour, James S., " "... 

Scythe Works 

Supervisors 59, 

Sheriff 

Surrogate 

Senators, State 

Society for promoting observance 

of Sabbath 

Taverns 54, 56, 79, 81, 89, 

Town Hall 175, 

Temperance 

Theological Seminary 370, 

Tiittle Manufacturing Company.. 

Throop, E. T., Biography of 

Trastees of Auburn 120, 

Telegraph 

Union League *. 

Union Aid Society 

Underwood, Geo., Biography of.. 

Van Buren, Martin, Visit of 

Volunteer Relief Fund 402, 

War of 1812 

War, Patriot 

War for the Union 

Western Federalist 

Western Luminaiy 

Water Cures 

Whig Carnivals 

Woolen Mill 

Water Works Company 

Young Ladies' Institute 



5(W 
570 

42 

62 

68, 

70 
64 
480 
150 
202 
215 
549 
245 
414 
476 
486 
529, 
556 
498 
512 
516 
518 
521 



132 

217 
252 
515 
490 
574 
507 
270 
447 
464 
542 
233 
452 
112 
225 
,393 
92 
92 
219 
236 
264 
304 
289 



PEEFAOE. 



It is with unfeigned diffidence that I submit thi& 
volume to the pubhc of Auburn. Gentlemen 
thoroughly conversant with the history of our city 
from the beginning * have, at different times, contem- 
plated its publication. The compilation of local 
reminiscences belongs properly to them. But it has 
been left to me to break ground in this work. I have 
undertaken it with no confidence that I sliould make 
the history perfect, but rather trusting in the indul- 
gence of the public for one who has made an honest 
attempt to serve them. 

It gives me pleasure to anticipate the reader's first 
query — as to the authenticity of this work — by show- 
ing him my som-ces of information. It is presumed 
he will be satisfied that they are sufficiently numerous 
and reliable. 

The veteran editor, Thomas M. Skinner, Esq., fur- 
nished me, in the spring of 1868, with files of the Au- 
hurn Gazette and Republicmi^ for seventeen years, 
from 1816, from which, with files of the Free Press, 
lent me by Miss Sarah Oliphant, files of the Cayuga 
Patriot, by Isaac S. Allen, Esq., and several volumes- 

-tm • 

'^ * General John S. Clark, James H. Bostwick, and John B. Dill. 



Xll PKEFACK. 

4" the Auburn Achertuer, I gained a first and gen- 
eral view of the progress of Anl)iirn from 1816 to the 
present, and the precise dates of all conspicuous 
events. 

I have had the pleasure of con\ersing often with 
the venerable Deacon Henry Amerman, now residing 
about six miles nortli of Auburn, near Centreport, 
whose acquaintance with the operations and incidents 
of the village, from ISO-l, for nearly twenty years, was 
perfect and intimate. His clear, retentive memory 
enabled him to review and correct the part of my 
work embracing that period. 

James H. Bostwick, Esq., now of New York, learn- 
ing of my inidertaking, generously placed at my com- 
mand a mass of statistics and legends, which he had 
himself obtained, during a long and active life, from 
the pioneers of Auburn. These items of early history 
were of the greatest value and service, the well-known 
reliability of Mr. Bostwick, and his great personal fa- 
7niliarity with the matters in question, insuring their 
entire correctness. 

For early town history, I am indebted to none, per- 
haps, so much as to James Tibbies, Esq., who came to 
Aurelius the year following Colonel Hardenburgh's 
arrival. Mr. Tibbies took the greatest interest in my 
work, introduced me to other old settlers, and aided 
me materially in forming correct impressions of olden 
times. "^ 



PRKFAOK. 



Hon. Enos T. Throop, whose excellent memory, 
and acquaintance with the scenes, and government, 
and great enterprises of Auburn, in the first part of 
the present century, rendered him one of the most val- 
uable sources of information, furnished me with 
much curious and useful material. 

Many other old settlers have allowed me to avail 
myself of their recollections of early days here, among 
whom are the venerable David Parsell, and his wife^ 
the sister-in-law of Colonel Hardenburgh, Joseph 
Beach, Eleazer Hunter, Jesse Lounsbury, Dr. Richard 
Steel, Thomas IST. Skinner, James S. Seymour, Michael 
S. Myers, John MclSTeal, Peter Sittser, and Judah 
Eggleston. 

The records of Aurelius, beginning in 1T95, the 
books of the supervisors of the county, going back to*^ 
1799, and various old and curious books and papers in 
the possession of Miss Eliza Horner, and in the county 
clerk's office, afforded accurate data and interesting 
statistics. 

For the truth of the story of the times of, and 
since, the speculation fever of '36, and of the great 
and often colossal entei'prises of later days, I have 
appealed in every possible instance to those having 
original knowledge of the circumstances. As usual 
with historians, I have met the embarrassments of 
conflicting reports. My most respected and reliable 
informants have, in some instances, the most singularly 



XIV PREFACE. 

different impressions of the same event. Their re- 
ports of simple things frequently differ in an extraor- 
dinary manner. I am in the position of the hood- 
winked man, who is led through scenes of unusual 
interest, without the privilege of looking at them 
himself, but is constrained to depicture them in his 
mind from what those that attend him, who entertain 
different opinions on all subjects, say of them. In 
this position, I have been liable to form incorrect 
ideas and impressions. I have therefore striven ear- 
nestly for original testimony in every case, though I 
have sometimes been obliged, in order to reconcile 
difficulties, to depart from the opinions of esteemed 
friends on certain points, and take my own view of 
the case. I trust, however, that in essentials, the 
sketches of the three hundred or more different sub- 
jects embraced in this history are sound and truthful, 

I have received assistance in collecting materials 
for this work from many eminent citizens of Au- 
burn, among whom are Colonel Charles W. Pomeroy, 
Edward E. Marvine, Hon. Benjamin F. Plall, Gene- 
ral John S. Clark, Isaac S, Allen, William C, 
Beardsley, Colonel Terence J, Kennedy, General 
Jesse Segoine, Dr, S. Willard, Nelson Beardsley, 
General C. D. McDougall, Colonel John A. Dodge, 
Colonel Charles H. Stewart, E. P, Senter, C, P. 
Williams, John Patty, Lewis Paddock, Michael 
Kavanagh, John M, Hurd, William Lamey, Morti- 



PREFACE. XV 



mer L, Brown, Richard C. Steel, J. X. Starin, Wil- 
liam Gray Wise, A. PI. Goss, Josiali Barber, Loren- 
zo W. JSTye, William Playden, Dr. B. Fosgate, Ste- 
phen G. Hopkins, James Seymour, Jr., John E. Pat- 
ten, Miss Eliza Horner, Miss Sarah Oliphant, and 
Miss Amanda Irish. 

Notes on the Merchants' Union Express Company 
were furnished by Charles JS". Eoss, Esq., the accom- 
plished cashier of the First N"ational Bank ; notes on 
the Southern Central Railroad, by J. Milton Brown, 
Esq., one of the most efficient engineers in the em- 
ploy of that road; the Civil List and Biographies,- 
by my brother, James Hall ; notes on the Oswego 
Starch Factory, by Dr. S. Willard ; and notes on 
the silk mania and the Patriot War, by my father, 
Benjamin F. Hall. 

In conclusion I may remark that the defects of 
the present work are apparent to no one more than to 
myself. Indeed, I am only too sensible that I have 
scarcely more than laid the foundation, upon which, 
at some future day, some one will rear the more 
perfect structure of a sound and complete history of 
Auburn. But if I shall have preserv^ed from that 
oblivion into which many of them must in a few 
years have sunk, the events of ancient times in Au- 
burn, and the generous, public-spirited acts of citizens 
of times both early and late, I shall feel that my 
purpose is accomplished. 



XVI I 'KEF ACE. 

I ask only that this History may be regarded by 
the public with that generous spirit with which we 
all look upon well-intended and patient toil. 

HENRY HALL. 
Auburn, May, 1809. 



HISTORY OF AUBURN. 



CHAPTER I. 



THE CAYUGA S. 



The relation of the several consecutive steps and 
events that mark the development, nnder the hand of 
industry, of the beautiful intervale containing the city 
of Auburn, from the condition of an original wilder- 
ness, to that of a thickly-settled, well-ordered, and 
prosperous town, does not alone constitute its local 
history. The history of this locality also embraces 
facts concerning the aboriginal races of the region, 
and some delineation of their life and pursuits. The 
Indians stand in the foreground of all American his- 
tories, in those of towns as well as those of States ; not 
so much indeed because they affected in any great de- 
gree the founding or progress of the particular com- 
munities — for the different periods of savage and Eng- 
lish occupation bear a relation to each other scarcely 
closer than that between two dramas produced in suc- 
cession upon the same stage — but they are always in- 
troduced in this manner because they add such rich 



2 HISTOKY OF AUBURN. 

contributions to tlic historical associations, of the dis- 
trict which happens to be under consideration. "Were 
this not particularly true in the present instance, it is 
presumed that an apology for the prominence given to 
the events of aboriginal history in these notes, would 
not be entirely unnecessary. The uncouth manners 
of the ancient inhabitants of this valley, however, the 
valor of their warriors, their strange and interesting 
notions, their eager search for fame, their fortitude, 
eloquence, and diplomacy, and the romantic circum- 
stances of their wild sylvan life, still excite undimin- 
ished interest ; and the conspicuous position attained 
by the Cayuga nation, the eminence of its chiefs and 
orators, and the importance of this part of its territory 
in relation to the old fort on the hill, the great central 
Indian trail, and the ancient village, camping grounds, 
and trails, along the Owasco Creek, are matters so 
clearly the property of local history as to invite the 
first attention. 

In the days when the red man had undisputed pos- 
session of the region, his Avigwams dotted the sides of 
our hills, the smoke of his camp-fires floated over our 
valley. His light canoe sped over the bosom of the 
lake, his hunting parties ranged the forest in every di- 
rectiou^and his savage superstitions peopled our woods 
and skies with his own pagan spirits and deities. To 
him, then, justly belongs the foreground of this sketch. 

The Cayuga, or, as they have it in their own tongue, 



THE CAYUGAS. 



the Gweiigweli nation, was one of the six composing, 
the celebrated confederacy of the Iroquois, that at the 
time of the Dutch settlement was seated in the inte- 
rior of ]^ew York, and about the St. Lawrence. The 
confederacy was first known in Europe by the appella- 
tion of the Iroquois, a name bestowed upon it by the 
early French explorers. 

Cartier, in 1534, appears to have heard of this fa- 
mous people ; and disregarding the long and barbar- 
ous title by which they were known among the natives, 
gave them a shorter one of French invention. Charle- 
voix, a French traveler and writer, who visited Canada 
in 1720 and 1721, refers the origin of the term to the 
frequent use by these Indians of a word or ejaculation, 
represented by the syllables " e-oh," or " e-ah." In 
the councils of the warriors, this word was uttered in 
response to the speeches of the orators by way of ap- 
proval or applause. It was also used upon such im- 
portant occasions as the convention of delegates from 
the various tribes, and from the English settlements, 
for the purpose of making a treaty. The sentiments 
of the Indian spokesman were indorsed by the attend- 
ant sachems by an unanimous "e-ah ! " or, as laid down 
in many of the records of these conventions, by " hee- 
aaw !" The sound is preserved in the term Iroquois, a 
syllable being added to make it available as a name. 

The Cayugas, and the Indians generally, used for a 
term expressive of their race at large the phrase Ongwe 



4 HISTORY OF A.UBCRN, 

Howe, wliicli signifies " a people surpassing all otliei'S." 
The word Howe means simply " a man." Golden says, 
" By the prefixed term Ongwe, it is qualified, according 
to various iiitei'pretations, to mean real, as distin- 
guished from sham men, or cowards ; it may also mean 
strong, wise, or expert men, and, by ellipsis, men ex- 
celling all others in manliness," 

The native national name of the Iroquois, who were 
a confederacy of at first five, and afterwards six na- 
tions, all descendants of a common stock, and united 
as brothers and allies, was expressive of their relation- 
ship and intimacy. They called themselves the Kono- 
shioni, or the Ho-de-no-sau-nee, according to difi'erent 
dialects ; that is, " the People of the Long House." In 
their imaginary Long House, extending from the 
Hudson to the Falls of Niagara, lived the kindred na- 
tions side by side. The eastern door was guarded by 
the intrepid Mohawk, the western by the warlike Sen- 
eca. The council fire bm-ncd brightly in the center, 
under the care of the Onondaga; the Cayuga was 
charged with the safety of the wampum ; while the 
Oneida and Tuscarora dwelt in security in their allotted 
territories near by. The parts of this royal house 
were strongly united. The perfect equality of the na- 
tions, and their unbounded hospitality and open confi- 
dence prove the great reality, to them, of the edifice of 
their government, and illustrate the soundness of their 
conception of the nature of a political compact. 



THE CAYUGA8. 



The origin of the Iroquois is preserved in tlieir tradi- 
tions with considerable distinctness ; although the ir- 
resistible tendency of the red man's mind to embellish 
all accounts of his past with fables, and to ascribe all 
events that he cannot explain to supernatural agencies, 
renders it difficult to entirely divest his history of the 
fruits of his imagination. This, however, is not more 
true of the Iroquois than of many of the ancient na- 
tions of the Old World. The early history of the Per- 
sians, the Grecians, the Eomans, and the Egyptians, 
and their colonies, is enveloped in a similar mass of 
marvelous tales. 

Several hundred years before the discovery of the 
"St. Lawrence by the French, the Iroquois lived upon 
the northern bank of that river, near Montreal, as a 
tribe of the Adirondacks, who were part of the great 
Algonquin group of indigenous nations, that at the 
time were possessors of nearly the whole of the regions 
now known as Kew England, New York, and Lower 
Canada. Thirsting for fame and independence, the 
Iroquois made an effort to throw off the yoke of the 
Adirondacks. Beaten in the war that followed, they 
were forced to fly from the country to avoid the fate 
of all the vanquished in Indian wars, total extermina- 
tion. Ascending the St. Lawrence, they bravely put 
out into Lake Ontario, and after a long and perilous 
journey arrived at the mouth of the Swa-geh (Oswego) 
Eiver. This stream they entered, landed near the falls, 



b llISTOilY OK AUBURN. 

and encamped on some liigli gronnd near by. Here 
they resided for a long time, and eventually became 
the Onun-da-ga-o-no, or Onondaga nation. Their new- 
name, signifying the " People on the Hill," arose from a 
tradition that they were actually called forth from the 
bowels of the earth at the hill where they first lodged 
after their flight, lla-wen-ne-yu, the holder of the 
heavens, himself, is said to have released them from 
their subterranean prison, and conducted them to the 
upper air. As time elapsed, the people became quite 
numerous, and large bands separated at different times 
from the parent colony, and wandered oif into the for- 
est in pursuit of favorite hunting-grounds where they 
might find themselves a home. One party locating on 
a beautiful stream became in time a nation called the 
Mohawks. Another became the Oneidas. The Cayu- 
gas and Senecas also w^ere formed in this manner from 
the Onondagas, who always recognized the youthful 
nations as their children. The Cayugas, according to 
their own traditions, were led in their excursions into 
the wilderness by Ta-oun-ya-w^at-ha, by some known as 
Hi-a-wat-ha, a being partly human and partly divine. 
They reached the lake which now bears their name 
through the Seneca River. The native narrative of this 
voyage abounds with the most marvelous adventures, 
which not only exhibit the difficulties thrown in the 
path of the fathers of the Caynga nation, but illustrate 
their energy and prowess. 



THE CAYUGAS. 7 

One of these obstructions was met at the marshes at 
the foot of Cajuga Lake. Then, as now, that spot 
was the haunt of the wild fowl, and countless num- 
bers of geese, duck, plover, and other aquatic birds, 
swarmed over the marsh. Thej were not, however, 
allowed to pass beyond its limits. Two monstrous 
eagles, of horrid appearance and awful power, repelled 
every effort of the birds to escape, and feasted upon 
them at will. The monsters also barred the progress 
of the little band of Cayugas. They were accordingly 
attacked with great valor, and after a terrific combat 
were slain, and the way cleared. The honor acquired 
by this success was considerably increased by the 
^'^iit which it conferred upon all red mankind. It 
^^ "v that the birds in the swamp, released from 

^^ the death of the eagles, rose into the air 

with a grea -, , j- 4.-U ^ -l. j 

° 'amor, and, spreadmg themselves abroad, 

ever tliereaftei , . i n ^i i i 

>ved at pleasure upon all the lakes 

and rivers of the , j re j j 

wintry, and aiiorded great suste- 
nance to the inhabitai. 

Another pestiferous gtx ^ ., , , ,, , 

^ terrible creature, that re- 

sided at or near the Cayui. , ,, , 

.J »\marshes, was the huge 

mosquito. He was repeatedly., i -, ^ .1 

/^ _ r ./ <^cked by the most 

valiant warriors of the country, bV n , 

'^ ' ^^vercame all who 

came against him with his enormoiV ^. ,.1 ., 

^ ^tmg, until it 

became necessary to appeal to the Holder. <. , , tt 

ens for assistance. In response to this aK, -, -rr 

wen-ne-yu one day met the horrid insect, and\ j 
•^ '' ' \d 



er- 



8 HISTORY OF AUBURN, 

took to slay hiiii. The mosquito lied, and was chased 
by the divinity all around the great lakes and sur- 
rounding country, nntil in the neighborhood of the 
iSeneca lliver he was overtaken and put to death. The 
blood flowing from his lifeless body gave birth to in- 
inimerable swarms of the small mosquitoes that still 
linger about the place of his death. 

The little band of red men, overcoming all obsta- 
cles, pursued its way into Cayuga Lake. It encamped 
upon the eastern shore. Soon after, a part of the band 
went west and settled on the Seneca Lake, where it 
founded the Seneca nation. Those that remained 

multiplied in numbers, and soon became distinguished 

^e 
as the Gwe-u-gweh-o-no, or Cayugas, " the people at " 

Mucky Land." 

The Iroquois had now expanded from a f'^ _ 

tive tribe into five independent nations : 

to be supposed that this had been e^^ ' 

, r\ .^ . ■ years had elapsed 

or m a day. On the contrary, ma^ -^ ^ 

,,',., , -, ,, " .a which subsequently 
since they first entered the rep- ^ 

T_ ^, ^ -> . 1 • .deracv : and many long 

became the seat oi their co^ -^ ' j ^ 

T , T T .^1 xdent nations had attended 

and bloody wars with r' 

^, . .1 rn .KC room for themselves, they 

their growth, io '^ 

,. . , .el the Alleghans and Andastes, 
were lorced to f' '^ 

then living in ^' ' ^^^^^'^^^ ^^ *^^ ^^^*^' ^''^' ^' *^^^ 
spread ovrr -'- country, they encountered the resent- 
ment of t'^ ^1' liereditary foes, the Adirondacks, as well 
£ .^j ilinsi, who were settled about the Hudson, 



THE CAYUGAS. 9 

:and the warlike Indians of New England. They also 
found enemies in the Eries, or Oats, and the Neuter 
nation, living about Lake Erie and the Niagara River. 
They, however, pushed back these nations, and gained 
a strong foothold on the soil. At this point, the Iro- 
quois nations, for some unaccountable reason, fell to 
lighting among themselves. They were one people, 
in fact, and brothers ; but for several years they waged 
war upon one another with the greatest bitterness. 
Their hunting parties were continually ambushed and 
broken up. The old people lived in perpetual terror. 
The tribes were compelled to change their villages often. 
The numbers of the people wasted away ; and, taking 
advantage of their weakened condition, the border 
-nations again took up the hatchet against them, and 
began to press upon them in the most alarming 
manner. 

It having become evident to the Iroquois that they 
were in danger of being overwhelmed by their hostile 
neighbors, the proposal was made by an Onondaga 
sage that the nations should calm the spirit of war, 
re-open the paths between the villages, resume the 
"voice of cheerfulness, and unite in a league for the 
preservation of peace between themselves, and for 
defense against common enemies. The project so 
commended itself to the good sense of the kindred 
tribes that it was adopted. Upon the northern shore 
'of the Onondaga Lake the chiefs met in council, and 



10 HISTORY OF AUBURN. 

agreed uj^on the terms and principles of the confede- 
racy. The date of this event is placed, by reliable 
testimony, about an hundred years before the Dutch 
discovery. Many traditions give the league a remoter 
origin ; but they are not supported by competent 
authorities. The principal sachem from the Cayugas 
attending this famous council was distinguished for 
the unusual size and beauty of his calumet. This 
circumstance led to the adoption, by the Cayugas, of 
a very large calumet, as the totem, or heraldic device, 
of their nation. 

JSTo sooner bad the five Iroquois nations buried their 
quarrels, and assumed the title of " the People of the 
Long Plouse," than they took the war-path together in 
search of renown, and revenge upon their ancient ene- 
mies, A furious war was first made upon the Adiron- 
dacks. This haughty race was completely humbled,, 
and when Jacques Cartier, in 1535, became acquainted 
with its condition, he found that it had been broken 
up, and the remnants forced to seek safety among the 
Algonquins. The Algonquins and Hurons were next 
attacked, but were too powerful to be easily shaken. 
They had been furnished witb rifles by the French, for 
the very purpose of resisting unfriendly neighbors.' 
This superiority over the Iroquois, however, lasted only 
till 1615, when a Dutch trading-post being established 
at Albany, the Iroquois themselves obtained a large 
number of guns. With this destructive weapon tbey 



THE CAYUGAS. U 

renewed tlie war in Canada, and overthrew their ene- 
mies. The Hurons were scattered in every direction, 
a large number taking refuge with the Eries. The 
war then opened in that quarter. A fierce struggle 
followed. The victorious party w^as the Iroquois, who 
fairly exterminated both the Eries and the l^euter 
IN'ation, adopting the remnant of the conquered tribes 
to supply their losses during the war. The Alleghans 
incurred the resentment of the Iroquois by an act of 
treachery, which they expiated by suffering a sudden 
and bloody extinction. 

It is impossible here to follow the haughty and vic- 
torious People of the Long House through the partic- 
ulars of its career of conquest. The task requires a 
Yolume. It may be said, however, that its aggressions 
<lid not end until an absolute supremacy had been ac- 
quired over all the Indian nations east of the Missis- 
sippi, and north of the Alleghany and Tennessee. 
Several of these were completely blotted out, their 
camp-fires being extinguished, and their people incor- 
porated into the families of their conquerors. All felt 
the power of this .people, and acknowledged its 
authority; and the early white settlers counted its 
alliance as the most secure barrier against all enemies, 
domestic or foreign. The Iroquois were the lions of 
l^orth America. 

The traditional origin of the Cayuga nation has ' 
been stated. A complete history of this famous mem- 



12 HISTORY OF AUBURN. 

her of the Iroquois league cannot at tliis day be 
given, tliough possessing great interest to those who 
now live in its ancient territory. The outlines, how- 
ever, are known, and distinguish it as illustrious both 
in war and in peace. 

The territory of the Cayugas extended in a belt 
thirty or forty miles wide, across the State of New 
York from Lake Ontario to the Susquehanna, just 
touching the Seneca Lake on the west, and including 
within its limits the waters of the Cross, Owasco, and 
Cayuga Lakes. The principal villages were Ga-ya-ga-an- 
ha, or " Inclined Downwards," above Lock wood's Cove 
on Cayuga Lake ; Ga-no-geh, or " Oil on the AV^ater," on 
the site of the present Canoga ; Ge-wa-ga, or " the 
Promontory running out," wher^ Union Springs now 
stands ; and iN^e-o-dak-he-at, meaning " at the end of 
the Lake," on the hills near Ithaca. The village of Was- 
co was located on the great central trail where Auburn 
now stands, and De-a-wen-dote, or " Constant Dawn," 
on the site of Aurora. IS^umerous other villages were 
scattered about through the forest, though those of in- 
ferior size were used more as hunting camps, being, 
occupied only at the seasons when the woods were 
being scoured for game. Between the villages and 
huntino; lodges there ran a number of well-worn trails 
or foot-paths by which alone the forest was penetrable. 
One of these trails ran along the south-western, bank 
of the Owasco Creek, and was in very early times used 



THE CAYUGAS. 13 

by the white settlers of Auburn as the line of a street. 
The great central trail crossed the outlet a short dis- 
tance above the prison, almost as far east as ISTorth 
Street. Its course westward was very nearly on the 
line of the present turnpike for several miles. Half 
way to Cayuga Lake it turned southward a little and 
struck the shore half a mile above the bridge. The 
villages were composed of substantial one-story frame 
structures covered with bark, sometimes rectangular 
and sometimes tent-shaped. 

The Cayugas were renowned for their bravery, and 
being with the Senecas the guards to the western en- 
trance of the Long House, they had frequent opportu- 
nities for exercising that virtue. Protected, however, 
by their central position from sudden inroads, they 
escaped the necessity of continual vigilance, and were 
rather inclined to the pursuits of peace. Grlory, in- 
deed, with them, could only be obtained in w^ar ; and 
their braves were ever on the war path. They roamed 
over the valleys of the Susquehanna, penetrating even 
to the Chesapeake Bay. They overcame the Andestes, 
Tuteloes, and mingled the captives with their own na- 
tion. They also joined the wars upon the Hurons. 
But, after all, they seem to have preferred a diiferent 
existence. Living in security upon the banks of their 
beautiful lakes and rivers, they abandoned themselves 
to the full enjoyment of the hunter's life. The nomadic 
character of the nation had long been lost, industry 



14 HI3T0KY OF AUBL'KN. 

and agricultui-e were dawning on the people, and they 
seemed almost ready to emerge from barbarism to a 
tolerable degree of civilization. Tliey had under cul- 
tivation, in a rude way, corn, squashes, beans, and 
fruits. The maples furnished them sugar, and the 
woods,, berries and nuts. Upon their crops, and the 
products of the hunt, was their dependence for food. 

The excellence and abundance of the Cayuga corn 
crops were twice of great value to the confederacy. 
In 1687, the country of the Seneca;^ was invaded by 
M. De JSTonville, Governor of Canada, with a large 
army of French and Indians, who in the course of the 
expedition burnt several native toM^ns, and destroyed 
an immense quantity of corn, both standing in exten- 
sive fields and buried in caches, which was estimated 
to measure twelve hundred thousand bushels. The 
scarcity of food created by this event threatened the 
most serious consequences to the Seneca?. In their 
extremity they appealed to the generosity of the Cayu- 
gas, with whom they were very intimate, and the On- 
ondagas. The suffering Senecas were relieved by their 
allies, who shared their stores with them. The same 
mishap befel the Onondagas in 1696. The French, 
having failed to detach the Iroquois from the standard 
of the English, invaded the territories of the Onon- 
dagas and Oneidas with the determination of break- 
ing their power. They succeeded only in destroying 
immense stores of grain. Indeed, Count Frontenac, 



THE CAYUGAS. 



15 



disappointed at finding no enemy to fight, although he 
had marched with great valor into the heart of the In- 
dian country, seems to have attacked the cornfields 
with special animosity. After wreaking his vengeance 
upon them, he returned in great state to the province 
whence he came. The Cayugas were then again 
called upon for relief, and again as generously re- 
sponded. Their bounty saved the Onondagas from 
starvation. 

The Cayugas were spared the evils of invasion at 
the time of Count Frontenac's expedition by the fol- 
lowing occurrence. While M. De La Barre, Governor 
of Canada, was organizing his notoriously useless ex- 
pedition against the Iroquois, he allowed himself to 
indulge in no small amount of pompous language as to 
the prodigious things he was about to accomplish, and 
he save the King of France to understand by his 
letters that he was waging most successful war upon 
his savage enemies. The King of France with great 
innocence wrote M. De La Barre to send him a num- 
ber of the Indian chiefs, supposed to be captured, to 
man the royal galleys. The Marquis was of course 
unable to do this. M. de ITonville, however, upon 
taking command of Canada in 1685, gratuitously at- 
tempted to gratify this whim of the monarch. Pro- 
ceeding to Cataraqui, now Kingston, with two thou- 
sand men, he assembled there at once, upon various 
pretexts, a council of Iroquois chiefs, among whom 



16 HISTOKY OF AUBUKN. 

was the eminent Cayuga chief, Oureonhareli. De 
Nonville then with deep treachery put the natives all 
in irons, and sent them to France. The Iroquois in- 
stantly retaliated. The warriors of the Five Nations, 
especially of the Cayugas and Senecas, sprang to ai*ms. 
They razed Fort Niagara, swept furiously into Canada, 
filling that province with a dreadful panic, and finally 
appeared before Montreal, and demanded the return of 
the chiefs, threatening instant massacre unless the 
claim was acceded to. The proud French officer was 
forced to send to France for the release of the cap- 
tives. Count Frontenac, who replacotl De Nonville 
in 1689, brought back the Indian chiefs. No oppor- 
tunity, however, was lost b}'' him to win the afiections of 
the returning Iroquois. They were plied with atten- 
tions and courtesies, and some, Oureonhareli included, 
were converted to Christianity. The reason M'as obvi- 
ous. The French were striving to gain the extensive 
influence of the chiefs in their favor as against the 
English. They succeeded with Oureonhareh, and it 
was on his account that his nation was spared by 
Frontenac in 1696, 

Notwithstanding the tendency of the Cayugas to- 
ward an agricultural life, they had no animals tamed 
for service or for food, except the dog. Horses were 
unknown to them. Wentworth Greenhalgh, a daring 
English traveler, ventured among this people, in 1677, 
on horseback and alone. He s]>eaks of the great aston- 



\ THE CAYUGAS. IT 

ishmWt created amongst the " Caiougas " by the appear- 
ance \i his steed. He gave a public performance in 
one oi their villages to show the speed and docility 
of his Qorse, in order to satisfy their cmiosity. Mr. 
Greenlmlgh also mentions the abundance of corn with 
the " Caougas." In the use of the bow, these Indians 
were na excelled by the most famous archers of the 
Old Woild, that being their principal weapon both in 
war and n the hunt. 

The Cas^igas with their brethren of the League 
reached thV; height of their power in the middle of 
the seventeenth century, at which time the whole peo- 
ple number«i about twenty-hve thousand. The num- 
ber of the Cl|yugas was three thousand. Many Indian 
writers rate \he number of their people very much 
higher, but it\ was at least as high as stated. The 
Senecas were tl\e most powerful member of the league ; 
the Oneidas, tm weakest. The Onondagas were next 
above the CaynVas. The population of the nations 
varied as they ch\)se war or peace ; for those that were 
most actively engaged in conquest, adopted the largest 
number of captiveL and so maintained their strength. 

The rulers of th^ Iroquois confederacy were a class 
of dignitaries, called sachems, fifty of whom were 
selected from the prominent sages of the tribes at the 
time of the foundation of the league, and invested 
with supreme civil power. The government was a 
pure oligarchy, TJie sachemships were distributed 



18 HISTORY OF AUBUKN. 

amongst the nations nnequally, the Cayiigas recsiving 
ten, while the Senecas, with twice as many w^'riors^ 
received only eight. In the national conncil, hcwever, 
which assembled annually, or whenever necessay, npon 
the shores of Onondaga Lake, the sachems loted by 
nations, so that the size of the various delegations did 
not effect the decision of questions. The saciemships 
were hereditary, and when once conferred, iivariably 
remained with the family or tribe of th3 original 
sachem, whose successor, in case of a vacanjy, was de- 
termined by the fi-ee choice of the remainirg members 
of the tribe. No new sachem was " raised U3 " unless he 
was thus elected. When so elected he vas invested 
with the power of his office by a solenn council of 
the League. These councils, convened, as the natives 
have it, for the purpose of " advising together," settled 
■all questions touching the welfare and prosperity of the 
people at large. Treaties, the declaration of war or 
peace, the disposal of conquered nations, and the 
management of home affairs, Avere the principal sub- 
jects of Iroquois legislation, j^ll matters brought be- 
fore the council were discussed with force and anima- 
tion. Every subject took the form of a question 
which was to be decided in the affirmative, or the con- 
trary, and the warriors were to be of " one mind," 
without exception, before a measure could be adopted. 
From his place in the circle of sachems about the 
council tire, each rose and spoke. The inflexible rule 



THE CAYUGAS, 19 



that nrilanimity was necessary to action, gave promi- 
nence t(i. dissenters. There were, always some such, to 
overcomfe whose objections oratory and public opinion 
were the only resorts. In their several homes, the 
sachems yere the magistrates of their different nations. 
They seldom had much to do beyond the settlement 
of dispute^, and these were generally decided in public 
councils or^the tribe or village. To this order no power 
was commi\(ted of a military character. Their au- 
thority was (entirely of a civil nature. The military 
officers were the chiefs, who were raised up and so 
called simply as- a reward of merit, or for remarkable 
bravery. The sachems could if they chose go to war, 
but only as ordinary warriors. 

The structure of each individual nation was pecu- 
liar. They were each divided into eight clans, or 
tribes, having an heraldic device, or totem, by which 
they were severally known. These tribes were re- 
spectively the Wolves, Bears, Beavers, Turtles, Deer, 
Herons, Snipe, and Hawks, tlie first four of which were 
considered as brothers to each other. The last four 
were brothers also, but cousins to the first four. The 
members of each individual tribe were considered not 
only as of one family, and thus brothers and sisters, 
but they also had the same relation to the members of 
all the tribes of the same name in the other nations. 
Thus, the Cayuga Wolves were brothers of the Seneca 
Wolves, and of the Wolves of the whole League, and 



20 IJISTOKY OF AUUURN. 

SO through tlie list. The object of this arrargement 
was to strengtlien each nation by tying together its 
tribes, and to strengthen the confederacy br linking 
together the nations. This was partly accomplished 
by tribal divisions. The laws of marriage and descent 
com})leted it. It was the law that brothers and sisters 
should not marry. Therefore a Caynga Wolf could 
not iind a bride amongst the Wolf, Bear, Beaver, or 
Turtle tribes, of his own or any other nation, but he 
must seek her amongst his cousins the Deer, Heron, 
Snipe, and Hawk tribes. A rigid adherence to this 
rule speedily united the tribes and nations with the 
closest ties of relationship. This system was rather 
intricate at best, but it was further complicated by the 
custom of descent by the female line. The Indian 
child was invariably of the same tribe and nation as his 
mother. The Deer warrior marries a Bear wife ; his 
children are Bears. The Cayuga brave may seek a 
squaw amongst the Senecas, and, as in the case of the 
celebrated Red Jacket, who was born at Ga-no-ga, his 
descendants are Senecas. The system of cross rela- 
tionships was elaborate and wonderful. It was more- 
over eifectual, and was the seci'et of the remarkable 
union of the Iroquois. 

The downfall of the people of the Long House was 
swift and pitiable. The troubles of the people began 
with the growing power of the English colony of New 
York, and were immeasurably increased by the Revo- 



THE CAYUGAS. 21 

lutionaT}^ war. At the commencement of that strug- 
gle the Iroquois were invited to range themselves with 
the royalists and help suppress the rebellion in the col- 
onies. The Americans invited them to remain neu- 
tral. The savages themselves hesitated to make a 
choice, though strongly attached to the British, and 
willing to unite with them in the war, except for their 
exposed position in this State. In a solemn council 
of the nations, the subject was earnestly discussed. 
The majority were for taking up the hatchet for Eng- 
land. The Oneidas, whose villages were contiguous 
to the American settlements, desired peace. Accord- 
incr to the usao-es of the LeaOTe, the dissent of the 
Oneidas defeated any positive action. At lengthy 
however, it was agreed that each of the six nations 
might take the part they chose. The Cayugas imme- 
diately joined the English and fought with great cour- 
age in the long war that followed. Their \ »art in the 
horrible massacre at Wyoming, however, led to the 
devastation of their country in ITTSby General Sullivan, 
a circumstance that broke their power. When the 
war ended, the Cayugas were helpless. Deserted by 
their allies, they were only saved from immediate de- 
struction by the clemency of General Washington, in 
gratitude for which, by the way, they assigned that 
eminent man a place in their heaven. 

February 25th, 1789, the Cayugas, at a convention 
at Albany, ceded their rich and extensive territory to 



^^ HISTORY OF AUBUKN. 



the State of New York, for the consideration of five 
hundred dollars in silver, and an annuity of tlie same 
^amount, reserving only to themselves a tract of one 
hundred square miles in the basin of Cayuga Lake, 
and the right to catch eels at a place called Skayes, on 
the Seneca Eiver, with a spot for a landing, and the 
right to fish and hunt over the ceded territory. Set- 
tlers soon after entered the surrounding countrj^, whose 
presence drove off tlie game. In 1795, the Cayugas 
•sold all but a small tract four miles square on Cayuga 
Lake, of their large reserve, to JSTew York. The pos- 
session of this was in turn granted to the State in the 
year 1800. By 1805, the whole nation had abandoned 
its ancient hunting grounds, and moved away to the 
West. Part went to Green Bay, Wisconsin ; part 
followed Brant and the Mohawks to Canada, settling 
on Grand Eiver, where it still remains in a village 
called Cayuga ; whilst a large band removed to San- 
dusky, where it was afterwards transported by the 
United States to the Lidian Territory, west of the 
Mississippi. A number of families also found a home 
with the Senecas, near Buifalo, and these, with their 
kindred beyond the Mississippi, share yearly the State 
annuity of twenty-three hundred dollai-s, arising from 
the sale of their lands. 

Tt is a remarkable fact in connection with the rulere 
of the Iroquois Confederacy, that none of them have 
become distinguished in history, except tlie Cavuga 



THE CATDGAS. 



23- 



sachem, Logan. There were fifty sachemships, all 
of which were held by eminent men through a long 
series of generations, notwithstanding which the name 
of but one of the whole number of incumbents is il- 
lustrious. Logan, known among the Cayugas as Tah- 
gah-jute, the son of the brave chief Skikellimus, was 
born, according to tradition, at the Indian village of 
Wasco, now the site of Auburn, in 1Y25. While yet 
a youth, he went southward with his father to a 
spot called Shamokin, situated just below the junction 
of the branches of the Susquehanna Pdver. This had 
been a favorite tramping-ground of the Cayugas, and 
here Skikellimus built his cabin. A little creek rippled 
near by. Tah-gah-jute soon became widely known 
among the whites for his unusually fine person and 
engaging qualities. As he attained manhood and in- 
fluence, he was regarded with affection and admiration, 
for he was an unwavering friend of the settlers, and 
steadily used his authority for peace. lie was con- 
verted to Christianity while still at Shamokin. Upon 
his baptism he received the name of Logan, out of re- 
spect to James Logan, former Secretary of the Province,, 
for whom the Indians entertained great regard. In 
1770, moving west, the Cayugas settled on the banks; 
of the Ohio. Four years later, a war broke out along 
this border, owing to certain robberies that had taken 
place in the neighborhood, and which were charged, 
though falsely, upon the natives. In this, although he 



24 



inSTOKY OF AUBUKN. 



had ever before been tlie triend of tlie whites, Tah-gah- 
jute became involved. It appears that a large part of 
his family, while quietly crossing the Ohio in a canoe 
one day, was met by a volley fired from the shore by 
a party under a certain Colonel Cresap, and atrociously 
murdered. The sachem was infuriated by this trans- 
action. Raising the war-cry along the border, he be- 
came as renowned in war, as he had been before in 
peace. His name struck terror whenever mentioned. 
It is said that he took thirty scalps with his own hand. 

The Indians, after a protracted struggle, met the 
colonists in force, and in a pitched battle were routed 
in confusion. JSTegotiations were opened for the pur- 
pose of effecting a treaty. A council was called, but 
Logan proudly refused to attend with the other chiefs, 
sending instead a messenger to Lord Dunmore, then '* 
governor of the colony, with the speech for the beauty 
and force of which he is so celebrated. He said : 

" I appeal to any white man to say, if he ever entered 
Logan's cabin hungry, and he gave him not meat ; if 
he ever came cold and naked, and he clothed him not. 
During the course of the last long and bloody war, 
Logan remained idle in his cabin, an advocate for 
peace. Snch was my love for the whites, that my 
countrymen pointed as they passed, and said, ' Logan 
is the friend of the white men.' I had even thought 
to have lived with you, but for the injuries of one 
man. Colonel Cresap, the last spring, in cold blood 



THE CAYUGAS. 



25 



and unprovoked, murdered all the relations of Logan^ 
not sparing even my women and children. There 
runs not a drop of mj blood in the vp-^^ of any living 
creature. This called on m- ^^r revenge. I have 
sought it. I have ki^^^^ ^^^ny. I have fully glutted 

my vengeance -^^^^' ^^^-^ ^^™^^.y' ^ ^'^J*^^^^ ^^ *^^ 
r ^ ^x> peace. But do not harbor a thought that. 

A^e is the joy of fear. Logan never felt fear. He 
will not turn on his heel to save his life. Who is 
there to mourn for Logan f Not oneP 

Logan met with an unhappy fate. The lonely 
sachem during his last years was overcome vnth in- 
temperance. One day, under the fearful influence of 
strong drink, his savage nature was aroused by some 
unlucky occurrence, and in a fit of passion he killed 
his wife. When his senses returned, Logan fied. His 
relatives sought for him in the forest. They overtook 
him near Lake Erie, but mistaking their object, Logan 
attacked them, and was slain by his kinsman, Tah- 
hah-dohs, in self-defense. 

The grass-grown earthwork that crowns the sum- 
mit of the eminence known as Fort Hill, in the south- 
western part of Auburn, is the best preserved of the 
many castles of the ancient Cayugas. The hill upon 
which it is situated rises boldly to the height of over 
one hundred feet, and commands so extensive a pros- 
pect that signal fires at the fort may be seen for from 
ten to twenty miles in every direction. 



•26 



HISTORY OF AUBURN. 



Tlie liill possesses great natural advantages for de- 
fense, and the fort is placed in the best possible man- 
ner upon its lop Tiie ground descends upon every 
side. The work, to ^vv,v,h great attention has been 
given by antiquarians, is an e-i.^nkment in the form 
of an irregular ellipse, with large opt.-;^^g ^^ g^^ ^.^_ 
ferent points, evidently intended as gatewa;y^. -Ty-i 
first exarhined it was surrounded by a moat, jl- ^ 
greatest height of the embankment is now no more 
than four feet ; its thickness at the base, fourteen feet. 
The diameter of the whole inclosure from east to west 
between the outside slopes of the wall is four hundred 
and sixteen feet, and from north to south, three hun- 
dred and ten feet. Tlie circumference is twelve hun- 
-dred feet. The northern and eastern gateways, which 
are respectively one hundred and sixty-six, and sixty- 
six feet in width, open upon gently descending ground, 
although at the distance of seventy feet from the former 
the brow of the hill is reached, and the surface pitches 
■abruptly. The three openings on the south vary from 
fifty to seventy-eight feet in width. These are on the 
brink of ridges and ravines that must have rendered 
approach, if offered, a dangerous attempt. The inclo- 
sure is located on the western and most elevated part of 
the hill, and is pushed back from the northern slope in 
such a manner that the south wall overlooks the ravines. 

Unmistakable traces of aboriginal occupation have 
been found in and about the fort. Among many relics 



THE CAYUGAS. 2T 

of a curious and interesting nature discovered here, was 
the thin iron head of a banner staff, fourteen inches long^ 
by ten broad, of ancient appearance, and of either 
French or English origin. It was for many years ex- 
hibited in a public museum in this city. Large holes, 
in the inner area of the fort have been ascertained to- 
be the caches of the ancient inhabitants. Arrow- 
heads and missiles are also found here. 

The heavy growth of trees that covered Fort Hill 
at the time of the discovery of the fortification estab- 
lishes the great antiquity of the work. Concerning 
this question, McCauley, in his " History of ISTew York,"' 
says : " We examined the stump of a chestnut tree in 
this moat, which was three feet two inches in diameter,, 
at a point two feet and a half above the surface of the- 
earth. A part of the trunk of the same tree was 
lying by the stump. As this tree had been cut down,, 
we endeavored to ascertain its age ; and for this pur- 
pose we counted the rings or concentric circles, and 
found them to amount to two hundred and thirty-five. 
The center of the tree was hollow or decayed ; and 
estimating this part as equal to thirty more layers or 
growths, we calculated the entire age of the tree to be 
two hundred and sixty-five years. About five years had 
elapsed since the tree.was cut down. This was in 1825^ 
and would carry back the date of the work to 1555. 

" At tlie distance of three paces from this stump was 
another of chestnut, standing in the ditch. It exceeded 



"28 IIISTOKY OF AUBURN. 

three feet in diameter, and must have died standing, 
and probably remained in that position many years 
before it fell from decay. In our opinion, the tree 
dated back as far as the discovery of the continent. 
Besides, it may be conjectured, for ought we know to 
the contrary, that several growths of forest trees in- 
tervened between the abandonment of this work and 
the date of the present forest." 

The question arises, by whom was this fort built, 
■and what was it for ? The work has been repeatedly 
•examined by ethnologists and historians, and all have 
attempted to trace out the mystery. The learned 
Henry A. Schoolcraft, a gentleman well versed in 
American antiquities, who visited Fort Hill in 1845, 
pursuant to the instructions of the Secretary of State, 
expressed in a subsequent publication the conviction 
that the builders of this fort were no other than the 
ancient Alleghans, the haughty and powerful race that 
held the country prior to the Iroquois, who were driven 
to the construction of such defensive works to main- 
tain their ground against invaders. He also asserts 
that this fort belongs to that class of works with which 
the Ohio and Mississippi valleys so abound, and is of 
identical origin. This opinion, advocated and fully 
set forth in the " Hand-book on Fort Hill," by Benj. F. 
Hall, has been generally received. There are reasons, 
however, and strong ones, for believing that the early 
Oayuo-as were the builders of this castle themselves. 



THE CAYUGAS. 29 

The eminent antiquarian, E. G. Squier, to whose re- 
searches the country is indebted for the discovery of 
many valuable and entertaining facts concerning the 
aborigines, after a careful study of the character of 
this structure, and those ascribed to the mound build- 
ers, arrives at the conclusion that they were erected 
by different people. He says, speaking of the Iroquois 
monuments : " I have already mentioned that within 
them are found many relics of art, and many traces of 
occupancy. These, I had ample opportunities of as- 
certaining in the course of my investigations, are 
absolutely identioal with those which mark the sites 
of towns and forts known to have been occupied by 
the Indians within the historical period. The pottery 
taken from these sites, and from within the supposed 
ancient inclosures, is alike in all respects ; the pipes and 
ornaments are undistinguishable ; and the indications 
of aboriginal dwellings are precisely similar, and, so 
far as can be discovered, have equal claim to antiquity. 
Near many of these works are found cemeteries, in 
which well-preserved skeletons are contained, and 
which, except in the absence of remains of European 
art, diifer in no essential respect from the cemeteries 
found in connection Avith the abandoned modern 
towns and castles of the Indians. There are other 
not less important facts and coincidences, all of which 
go to establish that if the earthworks of Western I^ew 
York are of a remote ancient date, they were not only 



30 HISTORY OF AUBUJRN, 

Becondarily but generally occupied by the Iroquois, or 
neighboring and coteniporary nations ; or else — and 
this hypothesis is most consistent and reasonable — th&y 
were erected hj them. 

Mr. Sqiiier is supported in this conclusion by the 
traditions of the Iroquois themselves. The Cayugas 
declare that the fort at Wasco, with all others of the 
same character in their territory, was the result of the 
old wars between the five nations, previous to the 
confederacy. That in those times, the chief villages 
were located in defensible positions, and. surrounded 
with protecting palisades, and gave shelter to the 
people generally, in periods of danger. The caches 
were used for stowing grain. The palisades, accord- 
ing to Cusick, the Indian, in his native " History of the 
Six JSTations," were thus constructed : " The manner of 
making a fort : First, they set fire against as many 
trees as it requiras to make the inclosure, rubbing off 
the coals with their stone axes, so as to make them 
burn faster. When the tree falls, they put fires to 
it about three paces apart, and bm-n it into pieces. 
These pieces are then brought to the spot required, 
and set up around, according to the bigness of the fort. 
The earth is then heaped on both sides. The fort has 
generally two gaps — one for passage, and one for 
water." The Cayugas further say that the feuds 
which created the necessity for forts having been 
pacified, the people issued from their places of defense, 



THE CAYUGAS, 31 

and, seeking new liomes, left the others to decay as 
useless. Thus, the Wasco fort was deserted at a very 
early day : and, the stockade having perished in the 
flight of time, the rude embankment now alone re- 
mains to mark its site. The mouldering bones of the 
dead are the only relics of the original occupants. 

Two miles north-east of Fort Hill, on the hill in rear 
of the North-Street Cemetery, there existed, in ancient 
times, a work similar to the above. Its site is a com- 
manding point. The plow has at length, how^ever, 
reduced this fort, and effaced all traces of its walls. 
Arrow-heads and Indian pottery, mingled with the 
soil, now barely suffice to fix the site, which appears 
to have been chosen with reference to a brook near 
by. McCauley saw the fort in 1825, and thus de- 
scribes it : " It inclosed about two acres, and had a 
rampart, ditch, and gateway. It is now nearly oblit- 
erated by the plow. In its original state, or the 
condition it was in thirty-five years ago, about the 
time the land was cleared, the rampart was seven feet 
high, and the ditch ten feet wide and three deep. 
Two persons, the one standing in the ditch, and the 
other within the inclosure, were unable to see each 
other. The gateway was on the north-eastern side, 
in the direction of a spring which flowed close by. 
The work was three hundred and fifty paces in cir- 
cumference." All the old settlers remember the In- 
dian fort on the Olmsted farm. 



32 HISTORY OF AUBUKN. 



CHAPTER II. 

THE SETIXEMENT OF AUKELIUS, A^D THE PLANTING 
THEREIN OF THE VILLAGE OF AUBURN, WITH CTRCUM- 
STANOES OF THE LATTEr's GROWTH. 

1790-1815. 

The iirst general sub-division of the western part of 
Kew York State into townships took place in 1Y89, at 
which time the humbled Iroquois nations were begin- 
ning to sell and retire from their broad territories, and 
the State Government, through Hon. Simeon De Witt, 
the Surveyor-General, was fast surveying and accurately 
mapping the country. All Western ISTew York was 
then denominated, in honor of an eminent general of 
the Revolution, Montgomery County — Tryon, the 
name it bore in colonial times, having been discarded. 
In the sub-division of the county, the principal part, 
of what is now Cayuga County was embraced within 
the limits of the town of Batavia. Aurelius and Mil- 
ton were erected therefrom, January 27th, 1T89, the 
former comprising all of the last named county north 
of an east and west line passing through the south- 
ern part of the village of Union Springs ; and the 
latter, the present towns of Genoa, Locke, and Sum- 



THE SETTLEMENT OF AURELIUS. 33 

merhill. Herkiiiier County was erected from Mont- 
gomery, February 16th, 1791 ; Onondaga from Herki- 
mer, March 5th, 1794 ; and Cayuga from Onondaga, 
March 8, 1799. On the day following its erection 
the only townships of the present Cayuga County were 
Aurelius, so named after Sextus Aurelius Victor, the 
celebrated Roman historian, whom the Emperor Con- 
stantius made consul; Milton, Scipio, and Sempro- 
nius. In a beautiful valley in the original townsliip of 
Aurelius, Auburn was planted in the year 1793, The 
title to the whole territory was purchased of the Cayuga 
Iroquois, February 25th, 1789. 

The law of the United States Congress, passed on 
the 16th day of September, 1776, pursuant to a report 
of the Board of War, providing for the enlistment of 
eighty-eight battalions of men to carry on the then 
lately declared War for Independence, enacted that all 
officers and soldiers who should remain in the service 
till the close of the war or till discharged by Congress,, 
and the representatives of such as should be slain by 
the enemy, should be entitled to receive from the Gov- 
ernment, upon the ratification of a treaty of peace, as, 
grant of the United States lands in Ohio, as a bounty. 
It was provided that privates should receive one hun- 
dred acres of land, and officers in proportion to their 
rank ; the Major-General's bounty being fixed at 
eleven hundred acres. An act of the New York Leg- 
islature, of the 20th of March^ 1781, authorizing the 
2 



34 HISTORY OF AUBURN. 

fonnation of two regiments for the defense of the 
State frontier, promised the members of these regi- 
ments a bounty of land equal to five times their United 
States grant, and in addition to the same. At the 
close of the war an arrangement was perfected by the 
State, by which the New York soldiers were per- 
mitted to relinquish their claim upon the United 
States bounty to the State, and to receive double 
grants in one parcel located in their own territory. 
Peace having been declared, the volunteers of l^ew 
York demanded their bounties. But, as the Indian 
title to the unsettled lands was not yet extinguished, a 
delay ensued. The troops became clamorous, and on 
the 15th of May, 1786, the Surveyor-General was di- 
rected to lay out a number of townships in the north- 
ern part of the State to satisfy their claims. These 
lands, comprising what is known as the old military 
tract, were located in Essex, Clinton, and Franklin 
-Counties. At this time the wonderful reports brought 
home by the soldiers sent out into the Cayuga and 
-Seneca countries to punish the Indians, of the extra- 
ordinary loveliness and fertility of the regions about 
the seven lakes, and the majesty and commercial value 
iof the forests that covered them, began to be generally 
noised abroad. Hearing these, speculators who were 
holding large numbers of soldiers' claims induced the 
State authorities to defer their final settlement until 
an opportunity could be afforded of bujdng the Indian 



THE SETTLEMENT OF AURELITTS. 35 

right to the more favored districts in the interior. 
This right was acquired in 1789. The Surveyor- 
General was then directed to locate the bountj'^ lands 
in the Indian territories. One million eight hundred 
thousand acres were ordered to be set aside for the 
object, and to be surveyed into townships containing 
one hundred lots of six hundred acres each. Each lot 
which was the size of the share of a private was to 
be subject to a tax of forty-eight shillings, to discharge 
the expense of the survey. The Onondaga military 
tract, as it was for many jesirs known, embracing 
the present counties of Cayuga, Seneca, Onondaga, 
and Cortland, and portions of Wayne, Steuben, and 
Oswego, were accordingl}'- laid out and mapped without 
further delay by General Simeon De Witt and his as- 
sistants, Abraham Hardenburgh and Moses De Witt. 

At a meeting of the commissioners of the land 
office, held in the city of JSTew York, July 3d, 1790,, 
twenty-five townships were reported as surveyed, and 
a map was submitted for approval. The Board ac- 
cepted the map, and, Governor George Clinton being 
present, named and numbered the townships. Aure- 
lius was numbered eight. The town lots were then dis- 
tributed to those claiming them under the law, by 
ballot ; the balloting being carried on at intervals for 
about two years, at the end of which time all obliga- 
tions of the State for the payment of bounties in land 
had been discharged. 



36 HISTORV OF AlBUllN. 

Ill tlie ineaiitiiiie the whole of the State lying weist 
of the military tract had passed into private hands by 
purchase of the commonwealth of Massachusetts, and . 
was being t>fl'ered for sale by the proprietors. A farm 
misht then be bouo;ht anywhere in the interior of 
New York. The only obstacle to immediate settle- 
ment was the dense and almost trackless forest that 
overspread the country. It was possible to penetrate 
this wilderness by no other means than by the Indian 
trails, and the streams and lakes. The trails, however, 
being widened by hewing out the trees, a torrent of 
emigration set in to every part of the interior, and the 
forest was rapidly peopled with sturd}^ Englishmen and 
Dutchmen. The pioneers were largely composed of 
veterans of the He volution, yet thousands came from 
New England, driven out by the effect of the sup- 
pression of Shay's rebellion in 1786, and attracted by 
rumors of the beauty and fertility of this favored 
region. Many more came from Pennsylvania and 
JSTew Jersey. The town of Aurelius came prominently 
into notice in this era of general settlement, and at- 
iti*acted emigration from places as far distant as Mary- 
land, Massachusetts, and Connecticut, being with the 
neighboring town of Scipio well known as abounding 
in rich soils, magnificent scenery, and unusual facilities 
for the successful prosecution of farming and manu- 
facturing. The rebel Shay himself emigrated to Aure- 
lius, and lived and died a few miles west of Auburn. 



THE SETTLEMENT OF AITRELIUS, 37 

The circumstances whicli constitute the first his- 
torical record of Auburn relate to the six town lots 
upon which the city stands. These lots are designated 
by the Surveyor-General, upon his map of the original 
township of Aurelius, by the numbers thirty -seven, 
thirty-eight, forty-six, forty-seven, fifty-six and fifty- 
eeven/^ They are arranged in three tiers : the first two 
mentioned comprise the northern ; the next two, the 
middle ; and the last two, the southern tier. They 
were awarded, and bought and sold by speculators till 
they fell into the hands of actual settlers — for none of 
the veterans to whom they were assigned as bounties 
ever occupied them — in the following manner : 

Lot ISTo. thirty-seven, forming the north-west corner 
of Auburn, was granted July 8th, 1790, to a brave 
private of Colonel Yan Schaick's regiment, the 1st New 
York, by the name of George Weaver, who, not choos- 
ing to improve the land, sold it to Michael Overacker 
for a few pounds sterling. Passing through the hands 
of Albert Paulding, the title to the lot was conferred 
December 12th, 1791 to, Eobert Dill, of ISTewburg, 
Orange County, to whom a patent was issued by ^tlie 
State. Mr. "Weaver's propensity for executing deeds of 
this form to whoever chose to advance a few pounds 
sterling, involved his original purchasers in great trou- 
ble to establish their claim. Among subsequent pur- 
chasers of parts of lot 'No. thirty-seven may be men- 
tioned Amos and Gideon Tyler, each of whom bought an 



38 HISTORY OF AUBURN. 

liundred acres in December, 1796, the former for forty, 
and the latter tor one hundred and eighty-six pounds 
sterling. 

Lot No. thirty-eight, constituting the north-east cor- 
ner of the city, was drawn by a private in the 1st New 
York regiment, named Alexander Mills, or rather by 
his representatives, for he had previously parted with 
his interest in the lot to Major Wm. J, Yredenburgh, 
December dth, 1788. Gerrit H. Yan Wagoner bought 
it of the latter owner, " for value received," February 
27th, 1789, and received the state patent for six hun- 
dred acres. He sold the southern half of the farm, 
December 1st, 179-1, to Major ISToah Olmsted, Jr., of 
Onondaga County, for the consideration of one hun- 
dred and twenty pounds sterling. After the sale of 
this lot to Major Yredenburgh, private Mills ventured 
to make another deed of the same for the sum of fifty 
pounds to Joseph Prescott of New York, who in turn 
sold it to John Richardson, in 1795, for four hundred 
and twenty pounds sterling. A dispute thus arose 
over the possession of the land, which was carried 
before Messrs. James Emmott and Yincent Matthews, 
commissioners for the adjustment of land titles in 
Onondaga County, in the rejection of Mr. Richardson's 
claim. 

Lot No. 46 includes Fort Hill and the western part 
of Auburn. It was awarded to Alexander McCoy, a 
private of the 1st New York, who had served in the 



THE SETTLEMENT CF AUEELIUS. 39 

army for' six years, but who, by reason of some infor- 
mality in his papers, was able to obtain no more than 
the State bounty of five hundred acres. He sold the 
benefits of his discharge from the service once to David 
Howell, of ISTewburg, in 1789, and afterwards to John 
Brown for the sum of eleven pounds sterling. This 
matter also came before the commissioners for the set- 
tlement of disputes concerning land titles, David 
Howell was declared to be the legal owner of the five 
liundred acres. The decision taking place after his 
death, this lot became the property of his heirs, of 
whom at different times it was bought by Robert 
Dill, at a cost of about twelve hundred dollars. The 
title to the unappropriated one hundred acres, lying in 
a square form in the south-east corner of the lot, was 
acquired by General Philip Van Cortlandt, a lawyer of 
'New York city, and transferred by him, September 
19th, 1799, to William Bostwick, of Milford, Connecti- 
cut, for the sum of seven hundred and fifty dollars. 

Captain John Doughty drew by ballot the eastern 
part of this city, and the magnificent mill privileges 
included within the limits of lot No. forty-seven. He 
was the only one of the original owners of the six 
town lots that received the patent for his land person- 
ally. He sold his patent to Martin and Josiah Ogden 
Hoffman of Xew York city for one hundred and fifty 
pounds sterling. February 16th, 1792, the lot was 
transferred at an advance of thirty pounds to Captain 



40 HISTORY OF AUKURN. 

John L. Hardenburgh, of Ulster County, the record of 
whose deed still exists among the books of the old 
county of Herkimer. 

Lot No. 56, containing the south-west corner of 
Auburn, became by grant the property of Nicholas 
Avery, a private of the 2d regiment of New York 
volunteers, who sold it to Edward Cumpston for 
twenty pounds sterling. September 23d, 1790, the 
title vested by deed in Jeremiah Yan Rensselaer — to 
whom the patent was issued — and Abraham Ten Eyck. 
Stephen N. Bayard bought the lot next. He parted 
with part of his interest in it in June, 1792, to Eldad 
Steel, and with the rest of it, in July, 1792, to Bethel 
G. Steel. On the 3d of October, 1798, the lot was 
awarded to the Messrs. Steel in the proportion of 
three hundred and fifty acres to the former, and two 
hundred and fifty to the latter. 

Colonel Peter Gansevoort received lot No. 57. He- 
retained the farm till he knew its value, and parted 
with it January 9th, 1805, to Samuel Swift, for four 
thousand dollars. 

The patents for these lots are severally recorded in 
the oflice of the Secretary of State at Albany; the 
field notes and maps of the survey, are filed in the 
ofiice of the State Engineer. 

The original townships of the Onondaga military 
tract were surveyed and mapped under the direction 
of the Surveyor-General and his assistants, by Benj. 



THE SEITLEMENT OF AUEELILS. 41 

Wright, John L. Hardenbiirgh, Humphrey Howland, 
Josiah Buck, Comfort Tyler, and other deputy sur- 
veyors, in the years 1789 and '90. Among these depu- 
ties, whose honorable, though perilous, profession was 
rendered attractive to the veterans of the then late 
War for Independence, by having been adopted by 
the venerated Washington, in his early days. Captain 
John L, Hardenburgh, of Ulster County, a tall, swarthy 
officer, of Dutch descent, took a high stand, being dis- 
tinguished no less for gallantry in his regiment, the 
2d 'New York, while on Sullivan's expedition against 
the Seneca and Cayuga Indians, than for his ability 
as a surveyor. He was called, in the discharge of his 
official duties, to various parts of the military tract, 
and not only acquired a thorough acquaintance with 
its resources and character, but a powerful desire to 
settle at some favored spot in its grand old woods, and 
spend there his remaining years. Life under the ma- 
jestic elms and maples of the primeval forest, in the 
midst of scenery of extraordinary beauty, surrounded 
by rich soils, and in a position where great wealth 
was certain to accrue to the large landholder, by the 
development of the country, was captivating to the 
imagination. With the wild valley in which Auburn 
now stands Captain Hardenburgh was particularly 
impressed. It was buried in dense woods, and unfa- 
vorable to immediate occupation from its swamps ; 
but the immense water power of the Owasco River, 



42 HISTORY OF AUBUKN, 

that ran through the valley, arrested his attention. 
The stream, draining the Owasco Lake and the sur- 
rounding country, was a rapid for miles. It abounded 
in little cascades and falls, and its current was full and 
strong. The facilities it afforded for manufacturing: 
were incomparable. The deputy surveyor, dreaming 
already of the future city, considered the opportunity 
thus presented as that " tide " which was to " lead 
him on to fortune." He resolved to " take it at the 
flood," secure the water power by purchase of the 
.adjacent lands, and found, if possible, a settlement at 
this point. Finding, upon balloting for bounties, in 
1790, that the grants to which he was himself entitled 
were located in Fabius and Cicero, he sought out the 
assignees of lot No. forty-seven, Aarelius, and made a 
trade with them, by which he became the proprietor of 
a tract embracing water privileges which promised to 
be the most valuable on the stream. 

Captain John L. Hardenburgh, the founder of Au- 
burn, fitted by his vigorous habits and iron frame for 
a pioneer's life, came into the township of Aurelius 
early in 1793, and took possession of his farm, which 
was easily accessible by means of a certain rude wagon 
track or trail, that ran through the woods directly by 
the spot. This road, then the only one in the county, 
was made in 1791 by a party of wood-choppers and 
emigrants who were en route from Whitestown to 
Canandaigna, under the lead of General Wadsworth. 



THE SETTLEMENT OF AURELIUS. 43 

They followed the ancient Indian trail, merely en- 
larging it by hewing away the trees and underbrush, 
and bridging the most impassable streams. The road 
entered the township from the north-east, and cross- 
ing the site of Auburn very nearly upon the line of 
!N"orth and West Grenesee Streets, ran in a crooked 
manner westerly to Cayuga Lake. By the side ot 
this path, known for years as the old Genesee road, 
lived all the inhabitants of Aurelius. Captain Ilar- 
denburgh brought with him into the wilderness one 
child, a daughter, and the two negro slaves, Harry 
and Kate Freeman. Being at first undetermined 
where to build, he appears to have spent several days 
examining the valley, and sleeping at night under the 
trees, before he selected a site. At length, choosing 
a spot of dry-ground near the road, and in rear of the 
lot now occupied by the Town Hall, he engaged Gil- 
bert Goodrich, a neighboring settler, to build him a 
cabin. Harry, meanwhile, began to make a clearing, 
felling with his own hand the first tree on the site of 
Auburn. Goodrich assisted in clearing the first acre. 
The cabin, a strong little structure of logs, was made 
■secure against the attacks of wild beasts, and was pro- 
vided, in the absence of both fire-place and chimney, 
with an old-fashioned Dutch back, against which the 
:fires were built, and the meals cooked. The smoke 
from the fire found its way into the open air through 
a smoke-hole in the roof. A wooden crane suspended 



44 HISTOKY OF' AUBUKN. 

the kettles over the llames. The latch-string ot this 
house was always out. The captain extended its hos- 
pitalities to every new-eouier, and to the aborigines, a 
large band of whom still lingered in the valley, not- 
withstanding that the main body of their people were 
then residing on the reservation near Union Springs, 
under Karistagea, better known as Steel Trap, and 
Esther. 

The Indians were the only occupants of the site of 
Auburn when Captain Hardenburgh settled. The Ca- 
yuga village of Wasco, or the " Crossing Place," was 
built among the trees on the ground now covered by the 
State Prison, and the trails of its inhabitants ran along 
both banks of the outlet to the lake. The great Gen- 
esee trail intersected the stream a little west of Xorth 
Street, a crossing being effected by means of large step- 
ping stones placed in the bed of the creek, and united 
at one time, according to reliable authority, by a bark 
bridge. The crossing distinguished the locality, which 
was known among the Onondagas as Osco, and among 
the Oneidas, as Owasco. The Owasco Lake was recog- 
nized as " The Lake near the Crossing Place." The out- 
let itself bore the native appellation of Deagogaya, or 
the place where men were killed, a term which dimly 
hints at some ancient transaction connected with Fort 
Hill. The village of Wasco was very substantially 
constructed of poles and bark, after the Indian custom, 
the fires being built on the ground in the interior of 



THE SEITLEMENT OF AIIRELroS. 45 

the houses. The natives were friendly and spent their 
time in peaceful pursuits. They subsisted by fishing, 
or by hunting in an extensive cranberry swamp twenty 
or thirty rods north of the village, which was then, and 
for years afterwards, famous as the resort of game. 

About the year 1797, the Indians began to trade 
with the whites, who had opened stores on Captain 
Hardenburgh's farm, for various articles they coveted, 
and very soon obtained large supplies of strong drink. 
This proved to be their destruction. Their camp was im- 
mediately the scene of furious brawls, which would in 
every case have terminated in the shedding of blood, 
had not the whites interfered. One night a terrific 
uproar was heard in the village. The whole neighbor- 
hood was roused. Hastening to the spot, the settlers 
found the savages fighting like demons, pelting each 
other with fire-brands, and throwing burning sticks 
and embers into each other's lodges, and making the 
forest ring with fierce yells. An attempt to appease 
them proved unavailing. Before morning, they had all 
left the camp, and fled away into the wilderness, from 
which they never returned. Among the many curiosi- 
ties left in the cabins of the village was an Indian 
book, which was long preserved by the old settlers as 
a great treasure. 

It is not certainly known whether Captain Harden- 
burgh was ever favored like Oloffe the Dreamer, whom 
he resembled in that he was a great smoker, and in that 



4G HISTOKV OF AUnUKN. 

alone, with visions of tlie future glories of the vallej 
where he liad settled, or of the colossal manufacturing 
establisliuients that were to succeed him on the banks 
of the outlet, but he appears to have been inspired 
with a belief from the beginning that a city would 
spring up around him, and he labored systematically 
to bring it to pass. AVhen comfortably settled in his 
secluded home in the woods, he took the first step 
in this direction, by harnessing the brawling stream at 
his door, and compelling it to work for him. A stout 
log dam was built M'ith the aid of Thomas Morley, at 
a point four or live rods above the present stone dam 
hat is known by his name, and soon after he em- 
ployed Eldad Steele and Captain Edward Wheeler of 
Grover's settlement, to build him a mill. This pioneer 
manufactory was known as a gig mill, contained 
one run of stone capable of grinding twelve bushels 
of grain per day, and was thatched with hemlock 
brush. If report be true, an attempt was first made 
to propel its machinery by means of the wind. 

Tlie little mill more than realized the expectations 
of its builder, exercising from the outset the most im- 
portant influence on the destinies of the valley. The 
want of facilities for the manufacture of flour was the 
greatest privation of our pioneers. Before mills were 
erected in their vicinity, ^he early settlers of Aurelius 
could only obtain flour by reducing their grain in a 
mortar fashioned out of a stump with a heavy pestle, 



THE SEnXEMENT OF AUKELIUS. 47 

suspended from a balancing pole, something like a 
well-sweep, or by carrying the grain to the old red 
mills at Seneca Falls, or to those at Lndlowville. One 
method was attended with an enormous waste of time 
and patience ; the other, with formidable difficulties. 
The terrible condition of the early roads which ran re- 
gardlessly over hills and through sloughs, turning out 
for neither, the liability to meet with accidents in 
lonely and perilous places where relief could not readily 
be obtained, the slow pace of the oxen, and the trouble 
experienced in hauling the heavy wagons, loaded with 
from thirty to forty bushels of grain at a time, through 
the miry spots, made the necessity of going great dis- 
tances to mill one of the sorest trials of the pioneer. 
The erection of the new mill upon the Owasco Creek 
was therefore hailed with joy by the surrounding set- 
tlers, who speedily became its customers. The mill 
performed for Captain Hardenburgh an essential ser- 
vice, therefore, bringing his property into notice, and 
making his farm a sort of center, residence at which was 
soon desirable for business purposes. 

Tradition relates in connection with this modest 
little log mill, that while its proprietor was busy one 
day with his grain sacks, he was unexpectedly assaulted 
and overwhelmed with the arrows, not of the savages, 
but of love, and instantly capitulated. Koeliff Brink- 
erhoif, the patriarch, living in Owasco, and being ira 
need of flour, had dispatched one of his daughters, aa 



48 HISTORY OV AUBl'RN. 

active, bright joiing creature, on horseback to mill 
with a bag of corn, with instructions to wait till it 
was ground and return with the grist. The sweet 
eyes of the maiden, as well as her blooming health, 
and her courage at venturing alone through the forest, 
took the miller captive at lirst sight. During the 
manufacture of the corn into meal, said to ha^'e been 
done on this occasion slower tlian ever before known, 
the brave captain made known his sentiments, pro- 
posed, and after a proper reluctance on the part of the 
damsel, was accepted. The romantic marriage took 
place in 1796. 

The orisfin and location of the roads which trav- 
ersed the township of Aurelius at this early date, are 
involved in considerable obscurity. It is distinctly 
known that the old Genesee road, before referred to, 
was the first built. This was passable in the first in- 
stance only with pack horses, but was improved in 
1793 by means of a legislative grant of twenty-seven 
hundred dollars, expended on the section of the road 
between Deep Spring and Cayuga ferry, under the 
direction of Captain Ilardenburgh, Moses De Witt, 
and John Patterson, . commissioners, so as to admit 
travel with sleighs and wagons. 

The next in order is a matter of uncertainty. The 
second leading to Ilardenburgh's mill, however, inde- 
pendent of the Indian trails, there is reason to believe, 
was what was popularly termed the old Chenango road. 



THE SETTLEMENT OF AUKELIUS. 49 

This was a rude avenue through the forest, extending 
from the Chenango country up into Owasco, and thence 
to this point. It entered lot No. 47 from the east, pass- 
ing over the roots of that immense tree long known as 
*' the big elm," and ran down to the mill very nearly 
upon the line of the present Genesee Street. It bent 
northward, however, at the present corner of Morris 
Street to avoid a large and deep slough. From the mill 
it ran to Korth Street. It was an unfenced, unimpor- 
tant road, thougli laid out originally by the State, and 
settled some. The parts south of Genesee Street were, 
upon the construction of the latter, discontinued. A 
road leading from the Cayuga salt springs at Monte- 
zuma to the Owasco bridge was greatly traveled as early 
as 1T94. The early settlers went down to Cayuga 
River for fish, and to pasture their cattle. When the 
salt works were erected, in 1797, the travel was increased. 
The general direction of the old road, some parts of 
which were in time shifted, and others taken up, was 
upon the line now followed by Garden and Wall Streets, 
and the highway from Clarksville to Throopsville, and 
from the latter place to Montezuma. There was also a 
path or lane, of which, however, few vestiges now exist, 
that ran along the south-western branch of the outlet, 
on the route of an old trail, quite through the place. 
The portion south of the later Genesee Street, called 
" Lumber Lane," was at one time greatly settled. By 
that section of it situated west of ISTorth Street, it waa 



50 HISTORY OF AUBUKN. 

possible to reach the lower falls. Owasco Street was 
surveyed and laid out as a public highway running to 
the southern towns, in 1705, by Elijah Price and Za- 
dock Grover, commissioners of highways. The State 
road to Scipio from the Owasco bridge, now known as 
South Street, was also located by the town officers 
at the same time. Nevertheless, for eight or ten 
years this thoroughfare w^as a desolate-looking road. 
It was cut through dense woods, the trees, brush, 
and logs being removed, and an occasional causeway 
laid. 

Settlers were now arriving in the township. 
Among the first was a large party from Southern 
Pennsylvania, near Gettysburg. The party had been 
on the way for two years, having left its home in 1791. 
Ascending the Susquehanna River in flat-boats, these 
settlers had reached the neighborhood of Ludlowville, 
and, unable to secure a land title in Aurelius, had 
waited there for the establishment of a land office. 
They now came on in wagons. The party was com- 
posed of eleven men with their families. These were 
Roelift" Brinkerhoff, Jacob BrinkerhoflT, Luke Brinker- 
hoff, Charles Van Tuyne, James Van Tuyne, Samuel 
Dunn, Matthias Yan Tuyne, Philip O'Brien, Thomas 
Johnson, Abraham Johnson, and Albert Demaree. 
They all settled in Owasco. The same year, but 
later, five other settlers arrived from the same locality 
as the above. These were David, Isaac, and John 



THE SETTLEMENT OF AURELIUS. 51 

Parsell, and two sisters, who entered the country by 
way of Cayuga Lake. David Parsell afterward mar- 
ried the sister of Captain Hardenburgh's wife. 

Solomon Tibbies, one of the soldiers of an expedition 
sent out during the Revolution to ravage the " Indian 
fields," as they were called, in the Seneca country, 
came to Aurelius in 1794, with the design of making it 
Ms home, putting up at Goodrich's tavern, like 
most new comers, till he could prepare his own resi- 
dence. The settlers always lent their aid whenever 
a house was to be built, and Mr. Tibbies soon had a 
log cabin on a farm on the west side of jSTorth Street, 
that he had previously purchased. His title to this 
land, however, proved defective. He therefore removed 
to a farm north of Clarksville, in which locality he was 
one of the very first settlers. An unbroken wilderness 
then frowned upon him on every side ; but he was coura- 
geous and persevering, and though he did not reach his 
property with his wagon till he had first hewn a pas- 
sage through the woods with his own hands, he eventu- 
ally succeeded in providing for his family comfortable 
quarters, and was long one of the honored residents of 
the township. This old veteran had three sons, James 
and Luther, who came with him, and Solomon, who 
was born on the ^arm. James Tibbies is still living in 
Auburn, in the possession of great bodily and mental 
vigor, and is the oldest living resident of this vicinity. 
He is said to have acquired the erect form for which 



62 IIISTOKY OF AUBUKN. 

he is remarkable from the Indians, in whose games and 
hunts he bore an active part. 

Jacob Van Doren, another intrepid soldier, located 
with his family on a lot at the foot of Owasco Lake, 
given him by the Government for his military services, 
having brought his family and furniture in a stout 
wagon for m.any long, weary miles through the wilder- 
ness, and over a road cut and cleared by his own hands 
as he passed along. His log house, first built, was 
afterwards replaced by a frame edifice, now owned and 
occupied by Peter Sittser, in front of which were 
planted, in 1800, thirteen poplars, then tender shoots, 
and recently brought into the country by the wife of 
the old hero, in her apron. The poplars have since at- 
tained a lofty stature, and are now conspicuous objects 
on the lake road to Auburn. Mrs. Yan Doren died a 
few years since, at the remarkable age of one hundred 
and three. 

Elder David Irish, a Baptist minister, who preached 
the first gospel sermon in Cayuga County, also settled 
in Aurelius in 1794. Adam Fries visited Auburn 
within three months after the first house was built, but 
did not settle till 1796. Major Xoah Olmsted and 
Zenas Hijggijis settled at this place in 1795. The 
same year Gideon Tyler settled near Solomon Tibbies, 
with his sons Elliott, AVarren, Salmon, Amos, and 
Gideon. 

The first o-round used for the burial of the dead in 



THE SETTLEMENT OF ATJKELITJP. 53 

this quarter c>f Aurelius was a spot on tlie top of the 
west hill of this place, now occupied by the residence- 
of Nelson Fitch, on the east corner of Washington and 
Genesee Streets. The first man who died in the local- 
ity — named Kittle — was interred in this lot, which 
was, for several years, the common burying-ground.. 
In 1795, another cemetery was started on the east side 
of North Street. Solomon Tibbies cleared away the 
trees' from this yard, felling them with the tops out for 
convenience in cutting up. A heavy log fence was. 
then laid up," in closing a quarter of an acre. This lot 
was located on the farm of Major Noah Olmsted, and 
forms the north-west corner of the later North Street 
cemetery. Gideon Tyler, a little fellow who was the 
playmate of James Tibbies, was the first person buried 
there. 

An accumulation of settlers about the junction of 
the mill road and North Street, now called " Harden- 
burgh's Corners," began in 1795, and was the direct 
result of the operations of the mill. The point had 
become a profitable center for merchants. James- 
O'Brien came to the farm, erected a little log house 
upon the site of the present Town Hall, and opened 
there the first store in the place, which he kept for sev- 
eral years. Yery soon afterward another store was 
opened in a log house, standing on the ground covered 
by the session house of the First Presbyterian Church, 
by Dr. Samuel Crossett, a gentleman of fine talents 



64 HISTUKV (>V ALlilKN. 

and great public spirit, who was the firet plij'sieian 
here. Dr. Ellis, another disciple of Esculapius, settled 
here about the same time. Samuel Bristol came to 
the Cornel's in 1796 as an innkeeper, and opened the 
iirst public house in a log cabin, on what is now tlje 
corner of North and Genesee Streets. The inn stood 
on the ground now occupied by Brown & Lee's store. 
It was a diminutive establishment, refreshments being 
obtainable there in moderate quantities only. A little 
store was kept in the same house, Mr. Bristol kept 
the tavern for several years, and then sold ont to John 
Treat, of Vermont. Major Walter G. JSTicliols also set- 
tled in 1796. He succeeded O'Brien in the log store 
at the corner of the roads, and built an addition to the 
same soon after. In the enlarged house, which was 
partly a log and partly a frame building, and was 
painted yellow. Major Nichols opened the fourth 
store at the Corners, and John Treat kept tavern. Dr. 
Hackaliah Burt came into the settlement in the month 
of March, and in the first instance was a clerk for Dr. 
Crossett, of whom he studied medicine. Soon after, he 
opened an ashery on the north bank of the creek a 
few rods below North Street, which he operated for 
several years. It is said that though he did business 
at the Corners, he resided till 1800 at a place a mile or 
two to the north, so that he might escape the evil ef- 
fects expected to arise from the swamps here. Dr. 
Burt was always one of the most popular men of the 



THE SETTLEMENT OF AURELIUS. 55 

locality, being public spirited, enterprising, and courte- 
ous in all his actions and relations. Nehemiah Smith, 
arrived in the neighborhood the same year. He built 
a log house on the west side of ISTorth Street hill, upon 
the very spot now occupied by the frame residence of 
Edward L. Skinner, in front of which he planted a. 
row of poplars. St. Clair Smith also settled in Aure- 
lius in 1796. 

Jehiel Clark of Ballston Springs, Saratoga County^ 
settled on the Owasco Creek, on lot ISTo. 45, in 1795. 
His log dam was built the same year, and his saw and 
grist mills in 1798. The latter, which contained two- 
runs of stone, was built with a massive frame, capable 
of defying the ravages of centuries. It has since 
been incorporated into the Mayflower grist mill, where 
its heavy beams still excite the wonder of the stran- 
ger. Mr. Clark made an eflfort to start a city at this 
point, and at one time seemed in a fair way to sue- , 
ceed, for the nucleus of a community was quickly 
formed in this vicinity, and several roads which were 
built to open up easy access to his mills, and the mill& 
themselves, made his farm quite an important place. 
Three roads were made to his settlement. One, since 
unused, came from the neighborhood of Goodrich's^ 
tavern on North Street, crossing the stone quarry by 
means of a stone bridge, the ruins of which are still 
in existence. Another was a continuation of this, and 
seems to have followed the general direction of Divi- 



56 IIISTORV OF AUBURN. 

fiion Street to the old Genesee road, whence it passed 
on to the southern part of the county. It was termed, 
in the conveyances of the day, " The road running 
from Jehiel Clark's mills past the farm of Eldad 
Steel to Grower's settlement." Later, it was known by 
the name of " Steel Street." The third w^as called 
" Clarksville Street," and is identical with the present 
Clark Street. It intersected Genesee Street at the 
point where Brigg's crockery store now stands. All 
three were for many years of the same character as 
the old Genesee road, irregular, crooked, full of stumps, 
and improved only in the miry places where old-fash- 
ioned log causeways were generally laid. 

William Bostwick came to Hardenburgh's Corners 
in 1798. He was a master-builder and tavern-keeper 
by occupation, and, having formed the determination 
of settling in this place, with a vigor which was char- 
acteristic of the man, he immediately built himself a 
house, prepared it for occupancy and returned to 
Whitestown, where he had been living since 1793, and 
made arrangements for moving out his family and fur- 
niture as soon as the weather would permit. He ar- 
rived in Aurelius the second time in February, 1799, 
having made the journey in a sleigh with his family of 
six. His residence was a double log-house, white- 
washed inside and out, and stood on the ground now 
occupied by the east end of the Beach block of stores. 
It was soon afterward opened as a tavern. The oven 



THE SETTLEMENT OF ATJEELroS. 



5T 



of the establishment stood in the door-yard, built 
against a stump. Mr. Bostwick was one of the most 
stirring, energetic men of the settlement. Always 
self-reliant and devoted to the cause of the hamlet 
and its prosperity, he took the lead in all important 
measures of that early day, and assisted in the achieve- 
ment of many useful public works, of which we shall 
again have occasion to speak. 

Daniel Hyde arrived in 1798, built a house north of 
Crossett's store, on the lot where H. L. Knight now 
lives, and, in 1802, prepared the iield just above it for 
a tannery. Elijah Esty bought this in 1805, and 
stocked and worked it for several years. After the 
sale of the tannery lot, Mr. Hyde formed a partnership 
with Dr. Burt, bought a store lot on the north side of 
Genesee Street, reaching from within a few rods of 
North Street nearly to Clark, and opened a store in the 
old log tavern. He sold his interest to Dr. Burt two 
years later, and devoted himself to the business of 
milling. Dr. Burt continued the business on the 
same site, though he afterwards demolished the tavern, 
and replaced it with a more comely edifice. He re- 
sided in another house on the same lot. 

The new Genesee road from TJtica to the west was 
constructed to this place in 1797, the section between 
the Corners and Onondaga Hill being made under 
contract, by Major Walter G. Kichols. It is now 
known as Franklin Street. 



■58 IIISTOKT OF AUBURN. 

At the time of the organization of the militia of 
Herkimer County, in 1793, a battalion of infantry waa 
formed, by the State authorities, in which Captain 
Hardenburgh was commissioned Major, and Noah 
Olmsted, Adjutant. Onondaga County was set off 
from Herkimer in 1T94, and a regiment of light in- 
fantry was ordered to be organized in the new district. 

In this Noah Olmsted was Lieutenant, and J. L. 
Hardenburgh and Edward Paine were Majors. In 
1799, when Cayuga County was formed, Lieutenant 
Olmsted became Major of the regiment. Major Harden- 
burgh, being promoted to the chief command, acquired 
the title of Colonel, by which he is popularly known. 
He retained the rank till his death. He was succeeded 
by Colonel John Harris, of Cayuga. 

The town government of Aurelius was not orga- 
nized and put into operation, owing to the great size 
of the township, and the lack of inhabitants, until 
1794. On the first Tuesday of April of that year, the 
first town meeting was held at the house of Colonel 
Hardenburgh. The settlers, a sturdy, weather-beaten 
band, gathered in the log-cabin, and selected their 
supervisor, town clerk, committee on schools, over- 
seers of the poor, assessors, commissioners of high- 
ways, constables, path-masters, fence - viewers, col- 
lector, and pound-keeper. It took nearly the whole 
population of the town to fill the ofiices. The yearly 
town elections were, from this date till 1803, held at 



THE SBTfLEMENT OF AURELIUS. 50 

Colonel HardenbiTrgli's. They were then appointed 
either at Henry Moore's tavern, out on the openings, 
at Edward Brockway's, or in some school-house. The 
first town clerk was Colonel Hardenburgh. The 
office was then occupied, till the town of Auburn was. 
formed, by the following : Dr. Samuel Crossett from 
1802 till 1803; John Haring, till 1807; Dr. Ilackaliah 
Burt, till 1810 ; John Haring, till 1811 ; David Brink- 
erhoff, till 1813; l^athaniel Garrow, till 1814; David 
Brinkerhoff, till 1822 ; and Daniel Calkins, till 1823. 
The supervisors are given on another page. The first 
justice of the peace in Aurelius was Colonel Har- 
denburgh. 

The government of Cayuga County was organized,. 
May 28th, 1799, at the Court House, at Aurora, by 
the assembling of the first Board of Supervisors of the 
newly-erected district. The Board, in full, consisted 
of seven members, namely : Joseph Grover, of Aure- 
lius ; Thomas Hewit, of Milton ; Jacob T. C. DeWitt, 
of Sempronius ; Silas Halsey, of Ovid ; George Bailey, 
of Eomulus ; Abraham Mariele, of Ulysses ; and Wal- 
ter "Wood, of Scipio. The settlement and division of 
county charges with the Supervisors of Onondaga 
County was the principal business of the first Super- 
visors of Cayuga. The first Board of the county, after 
the formation of Seneca County from its western part 
in 1804, met in Scipio, October 2d, and was composed 
of the representatives of the ten towns. They were 



■60 HISTORY OF AUBURN. 

Joseph Grover, Jr., of Aurelius ; Augustus Chidsey, of 
Scipio ; Elijah Price, of Owasco ; llufus Sheldon, of 
Brutus ; Silas Bowker, of Locke ; Charles Kellogg, of 
Sempronius ; Richard Townlej, of Milton ; John Ellis, 
of Dryden ; John C. Barnes, of Cato ; and Isaac Smith, 
-of Jefferson. 

Every road leading to Western New York in ISOO 
was choked with emigrants, bound to the military lands 
and the valley of the Genesee, large numbers of 
whom settled by the side of the old Genesee trail, as 
they were able to obtain suitable farms. The oak 
openings in the present town of Aurelius, and the 
fertile towns to the south, were then competing strongly 
for settlers with the densely- wooded, and therefore less 
favored valley of the Owasco. These things notwith- 
standing, the nucleus of a settlement had already been 
formed at this point. Bristol's tavern on the knoll, 
and Bost wick's embowered among the trees, Clark's 
and Hardenburgh's grist mills, Hyde's tannery, Cros- 
sett's, O'Brien's, and Bristol's stores, Burt's ashery, 
Goodrich's tavern on North Street, and about a dozen 
log farm-houses, formed the germ of the future city. 
Enrolled as residents were Colonel Hardenburgh, 
James O'Brien, Samuel Bristol, John Treat, William 
Bostwick, Daniel Hyde, Eldad Steel, Nehemiah 
Smith, Dr. Samuel Crossett, Dr. Ellis, Samuel Haring, 
David Snow, Dr. Burt, Solomon Tibbies, Gideon 
Tyler, Jehiel Clark, Joseph Parish. Barent G. Staats, 



THE SETl'LEMENT OF AUEELIUS. 61 

Moses Bodell, and Friend and Benjamin Phelps ; 
and Harry Freeman and Tom Bramin, the slaves. 

The cleared ground at the Corners did not, in 1800, 
exceed one hundred and fifty acres, and the cultivated 
ground was embraced by a few small gardens. The 
place was not a paradise at this time, although the 
surrounding scenery was wild and imposing. On the 
contrary, its topography was most ungainly, and for 
mud it was horrible. A succession of ridges, bogs, and 
rills crossed Genesee Street west of Bostwick's, and in 
fact both North and South Streets also ; a dismal and 
damgerous swamp extended from the crossing of the 
creek westwards for nearly half a mile, and stagnant 
■pools were scattered everywhere through the woods. 
Each pond was the source of myriads of clamorous frogs, 
who with the wild beasts made the nights hideous. The 
roads were always wet. Winter was the best time to 
travel, and cold weather al\^ys stimulated immigration. 
In the summer, the road through Auburn was the worst 
between Utica and Canandaigua, a reputation which it 
fully sustained for over thirty years. It was a source 
of great discomfort both to travelers and residents, 
and in conjunction with the wet lands exercised an un- 
favorable influence on. the place. The latter, indeed, 
came near proving fatal to the embryo city, many 
settlers being so prejudiced by them against the locality 
as to refuse to come here at all, and some once estab- 
lished afterward going away. 



62 HISTORY OF AUBUKN. 

Wood-chopping was tlie leading occupation of the 
pioneers of Auburn for many years. Tlie trees had 
to be felled and burned before orchards could be planted 
or grain sown ; and this was the first task, therefore, of 
every settler. In it the slaves took an active part ; for, 
while the original inhabitants of this town were sturdy- 
patriots and sincerely attached to the principles of free 
government, it must be remembered that such as; 
could afford it were owners of negro slaves, and slave 
labor was employed here till after the war of 1812. 
The founders of Auburn, however, were kind mast^s ; 
instances of cruelty to the blacks were unknown. 
On the other hand, acts of the greatest generosity were 
abundant, and the negroes were often permitted, if they 
chose, to earn their liberty by clearing up the new lands. 
Tom Bramin acquired his liberty in this manner, clear- 
ing away for Col, Hardenburgh the woods from the 
eighty acres of his farm lyi|a^ north and west of Gene- 
see and Fulton Streets, which were afterwards used for 
an orchard, Tom's free papers appear on the pages of 
the old town book of Aurelius, They run thus : 

" To all persons to whom these presents shall come, greeting : 
Know ye that in consideration of the sum of three hundred 
dollars, and for divers other good and sufficient causes and con- 
siderations, we hereunto moving, paid and given by Thomas 
Bramin, a black man (my servant), I, John L. Hardenburgh, of the 
town of Aurelius, in the county of Cayuga, and State of New 
York, have manumitted and set free, and by these presents do man- 
umit, discharge, and set free the said Thomas ; and do hereby, for 



THE SETTLEMENT OF ADKELIUS. 63 

myself, my heirs, executors, administrators, and assigns, for ever, 
quit claim to the said Thomas and to his further service, and every 
part thereof. And for the consideration aforesaid, I do hereby, 
for myself, my heirs, executors, administrators, and assigns, con- 
fess and acknowledge the said Thomas a free man to all intents 
and purposes whatsoever, and fully and entirely independent of 
me, my heirs, executors, administrators and assigns. 

Given under my hand and seal this 14th day of April, 1803. 

John L. Hakdenburgh. 

Witnesses: Daniel Cogswell, Nathaniel Garrow, Simon Hall. 

Among these old records appear also the free papers 
of two slaves of Peter Hughes, who, by the way, 
gained their freedom in the same manner as Tom 
Bramin. This is the record : 

" Whereas, by a law of the State of New York, passed the 8th 
day of April, in the year of our Lord, 1801, it is enacted that it 
shall and may be lawful for the owner of any slave to manumit 
the same by obtaining a certificate from the Overseers of the 
Poor of the town where such owners reside ; now, therefore, 
know ye that we, the Overseers of the Poor of the town of Aure- 
lius, duly appointed for the year 1808, on the application of Peter 
Hughes, Esq., of said town, to manumit two certain negro slaves, 
to wit : one by the name of Harry, aged thirty years, the other by 
the name of Abraham, aged thirty-nine years, do, in consequence 
of said law and application, and, on due examination of said 
slaves, agree and certify, that we deem the said negro men capable 
of supporting themselves by their labor, and do, by these presents, 
receive the said negro men as free citizens of the said town of 
Aurelius, hereby discharging the said Peter Hughes, his heirs, ex- 
ecutors, and administrators, from all claims which the said town 
might otherwise have on the said Peter Hughes, or his estate, on 
account of any future inability of said negro men. 



64 HISTORY OF AUBURN. 

Givea under' our haads this 5th day of December, 1808, at 

Auburn. 

Zenas Huggins, / Overseers of 
Alex'r Plnnerk, [ the Poor. 

The birth of the first white child at the Corners may 
be chronicled as among the important occurrences of 
1798. The individual who had the honor of being the 
pioneer child of this place was no less than John H., 
son of Colonel Hardenburgh. The first black child 
was the son of Harry Freeman, and the first white 
girls were Harriet and Polly, daughters of William 
Bostwick. 

Stages were, in 1800, running over the old Genesee 
road once a week ; a post-ofiice was established at the 
Corners that year, with a mail every fortnight. Isaac 
Sherwood, of Skaneateles, and Jason Parker, were the 
first mail carriers. Mr, Parker brought the bag& 
through this part of the line on horseback, or, when he 
was unable to come, Mrs. Parker, and left the mail 
matter for this neighborhood at the store of Dr. Crossett, 
who was honored with the position of first postmaster. 
In 1804 the mails began to run twice a week, and, 
when light, were occasionally brought by the father of 
Hon. Gerrit Smith, on horseback. A daily mail was 
not received till 1808. 

The first institution of learning at or near Harden- 
burgh's Corners was located in 1796, on the west side 
of l!*rorth Street, half-way up the hill. It was a log 
house. Benjamin Phelps was the first schoolmaster; 



THE SETTLEMENT OF AUKELIUS. 65 

Dr. Burt the second. Another school was running at 
the same time in a log cabin on the south-east corner of 
the present Division and Genesee Streets, in which the 
bare-footed urchins of Clark's Yillage and vicinity re- 
ceived their first teachings in the rudiments of knowl- 
edge. In 1801, a frame school -house was erected | at 
the Corners, to the no small honor of the inhabitants 
and mental profit of their children. This little build- 
ing, containing one room, and painted yellow, stood in 
the first instance on the east side of South Street, but on 
a spot which is now the center of that street. The 
road coming up from the creek did not pursue at that time 
a direct course southward, but ran off toward Bostwick's 
tavern, to avoid a sharp knoll at the head of ISTorth 
Street, and then turned back to its present course on 
the other side. When the road was straightened in 
after years, the school-house stood in the way and was 
moved to the west corner of South Street, where it sub- 
sequently became a store. Dr. Steadman was the first 
master of this school. David Buck succeeded him, 
aad, in 1806, Benjamin Phelps. Another school was 
o]5ened in 1801 in a log building on the north side of 
what is now Franklin Street, between Holley and Ful- 
ton Streets, by Benjamin Phelps, who was wont to ring 
a cow-bell to assemble his pupils. The school was 
prosecuted for a year or two, after which the house was 
'nverted into a residence. 

The crossing of the outlet on Korth Street was im- 
3 



66 HISTUKY OF AL'llUKN. 

proved in the year 1800, by the construction of a log 
bridge — the first on tlie site of Anbnrn. Tlie stream 
was forded by teams ■[)revious to tliis date, and crossed 
by pedestrians bj^ means of the trunk of a tall tree, 
felled so as to reach from bank to bank. The famed 
bridge over the Cayuga Lake was built the same year, 
at an expense of $150,000, by John Harris, Thomas 
Morris, Wilhelmus Mynderse, Charles Williamson, 
and Joseph Annin, associated as the " Manhattan 
Company." 

This year brought to tlie hamlet a son of Yulcan, 
Daniel Grant by name, who set up his anvil in a little 
shop on the site of the present Columbian block, and 
who, four years later, opened the first trip-hammer 
forge here, on the east corner of Lumber Lane and 
Genesee Street ; Zenas Goodrich, the tavern-keeper ; 
Francis Hunter, the farmer, who settled just east of 
"" the big elm ; " and Elijah Esty, the tanner, who pur- 
chased, in August, 1805, and operated for seven years 
thereafter, the Hyde tannery on ISTorth Street. It was 
during Mr. Esty's occupancy of this property, that the 
magnificent elm standing on the side-walk near Semi- 
nary Street was planted by his sister Sally. Barney 
Campbell having also settled here in 1800, erected a 
little distillery on the north bank of the outlet, on the 
site of Selover's planing mill ; he operated this still for 
a short time, and then transferred it to other parties. 
A little island, then lying in the middle of the stream. 



THE SETTLEMENT OF AUBELILTS. 67 

was used for tlie purposes of the establisliment. 
Among others who visited Hardenburgh's Corners in 
quest of a favorable location, this year, was Aaron 
Ilayden, the fuller, to whom Colonel Hardenburgh 
offered a privilege at his dam, and fifty acres of land, 
if he would settle and build a fulling mill. Mr. 
Hayden declined the offer, for the land was wet, but 
settled soon after at Cold Spring, two miles north, 
where he erected the first fulling mill in Cayuga 
County. Adam, John, and Peter Miller settled in 
that part of the town of Aurelias now known as Sen- 
nett, and Daniel and William Miller in Owasco, in 

1800, also. 

Abner Beach, with two daughters, ami his sons, 
Joseph and Peter, came into the county in February, 

1801, and moved from Owasco into liis new house on 
the top of Franklin Street hill on the Christmas-day 
following. Daniel Kellogg, a lawyer of vigorous in- 
tellect, devoted to the practice of his profession — that 
branch of it particularly relating to land titles — and 
in after years a prominent and useful citizen of the 
town, settled, in 1801, with a brother lawyer, Moses 
Sawyer. Bradley Tuttle came here the same season, 
and, after clearing away for Mr, Bostwick some of the 
trees on the latter's farm, went north and bought 
Goodrich's tavern, which he conducted for several 
years. He returned to the village afterward, and 
became one of the most prominent and enterprising 



68 IIISTOKY OF AUBURN. 

builders of the place. Richard L. !Siiiith, a young law 
student, also settled in 1801 ; he was subsequently 
District Attorney, and editor of the Auburn Gazette. 

Among the settlers of 1802, were Philip and Gideon 
Jenkins, mill-wrights, Ichabod Marshall, and Captain 
Edward Stevenson, the latter of whom built his resi- 
dence on the east side of North Street, near and south- 
of the outlet. 

The inhabitants of the settlement were so aug- 
mented in numbers by 1802, that they extended a call 
to the Eev. David Iliggins of Haddam, Connecticut,, 
who, as a missionary, had been holding religious serv- 
ices every four weeks at Aurelius, CayiTga, Grover's 
settlement, and Hardenburgh's Corners, to officiate here 
statedly. The call was accepted. Mr. Higgins re- 
moved to the Corners, and, in 1803, purchased the 
farm afterward owned by Nathaniel Garrow, and still 
later b}^ Abijah Fitch. He built there a residence 
with windows, which for a time was painted blacky 
and planted on the lawn in November, 1806, the wil- 
lows whose graceful and majestic appearance is now 
the admiration of our citizens. His congregation as- 
sembled for religious worship sometimes in the school- 
house on the corner of South Street, and, at others, on 
the threshing-floor of "William Bostwick's large barn. 
When the latter's new tavern was opened, the long 
room was tendered to Mr. Higgins for Sunday services, 
which he accepted and used for many years. 



THE SETTLEMENT OF AUEELICS. 69 

Cotemporaneous with the Presbyterian missionary 
in religions work in Aurelins was Rev. Davenport 
Phelps, an Episcopal clergyman, w^hose occasional ser- 
vices were instrumental in the organization of the first 
regularly formed religious society of the hamlet. Rev. 
Philander Chase, afterward Bishop of Ohio, who vis- 
ited the Corners as a missionary twice, performed the 
first baptisms in the place, administering the sacred 
rite to William, Harriet, and Polly Post wick, in their 
father's log tavern. 

The population of the little settlement on the 
Owasco Outlet was augmented, in 1803, by the arrival 
of Nathaniel Carrow, one of the most practical, vig- 
orous, and popular men that ever resided in this city. 
He was, indeed, as one of our old citizens says of him, 
' " constitutionally popular." He came into the county 
in 1796, with an ax on his shoulder, and one shilling 
in his pocket, all he owned in the wide world. Wood- 
■ chopping, and trading in furs with the settlements on 
■the Mohawk, was his occupation for years. He was 
paid, he says, his first earnings in deer-skins. Com- 
ing to Hardenburgh's Corners, he bought the triangle 
now enclosed by Genesee and North Streets and the 
outlet, and went into the business of distilling. He 
became able, by 1813, to purchase the Higgins farm, 
where he resided till the day of his death. He was 
;an honored citizen, and held from time to time vari- 
ous important public offices, that of Congressman 



70 HISTORY OF AUBURN. 

among others. Joliii G arrow came to Aurelius in 1796, 
and settled at the Half Acre, where he opened a store. 

The great Genesee road, or Seneca turnpike, which 
for a quarter of a century was the principal channel of 
trade and communication across the State of Is'ew 
York, was constructed through Cayuga County in 
1802 and 1803. The old road M^est of the outlet was 
adopted by the new company without alteration. The 
line east was located through the woods upon a new 
route, to accommodate the settlers of both Skaneateles 
and Hardenburgh's, many of whom were large stock- 
holders of the turnpike company. It was many years 
before this road was in a condition fit for rapid travel. 
The stumps were not fully removed before the war of 
1812, and as the path was but just wide enough to let 
wagons pass through, traveling after dark was long a 
perilous business. The settlers called this road the 
" mudpike." A prominent landmark on the road was 
a gigantic tree standing on the south side of the way, 
at the present east line of the corporation, and at the 
corners of what are now Genesee Street and Seward 
Avenue, which was for fifty years known all over New 
York as the "big elm." It is said that under the 
spreading branches of this monarch of the woods was 
a favorite stopping-place with the Indians. 

The broad surface of a strong wooden bridge, built 
by William Bostwick in 1802, where the Seneca turn- 
pike crossed the outlet, which was fourteen rods in 



THE SETTLEMENT OF AURELIUS, 71 

length, the eastern end reaching nearly to the corner 
of the present Market Street, was one of the most 
favorite resorts of the inhabitants at this early day, for 
amusement, in the town. Quoits, games of ball, and 
foot-races, were the popular pastimes. The latter sport 
was entered into with the greatest zest by everybody 
in the settlement. Trials of speed with the savages 
were occasions of great excitement. The native run- 
ners, who were proverbially fleet, were seldom distanced 
in the race by any of the whites, but Dr. Burt ; he could 
generally outstrip them. The doctor was the swiftest 
runner here, though John H. Cumpston, Henry Am- 
merman, Henry Polhemus, and James Minton, were 
generally esteemed as having few equals in speed 
among the settlers. The starting-point in these races 
was always the top of the hill west of the bridge ; the 
winning-post, Hardenburgh's mill. Dr. Burt's racing 
qualities won for him the immeasurable respect of his 
savage competitors, and a band of Oneidas insisted one 
day upon conferring on him the honor of adoption into 
their tribe. He consented after much solicitation, and 
was duly clothed with the prerogatives of an Iroquois, 
with considerable ceremony. He was placed in the 
center of a circle of the Indians, who joined hands, 
said something very edifying in their own dialect, gave 
him the name of To-kon-a-hos, and then all shook 
hands w4th him, pointing up to the sky, and repeating 
a few words in the Oneida tongue. 



Y2 HISTOKV C)F ALDUKN. 

Colonel llardeiiburgli's gig mill gave way, in 1802, to 
a frame building a story and a half high, which was 
erected for the proprietor by Philip and Gideon Jenkins, 
builders. The new mill contained one run of stone 
only, but was made to grind thirty bushels of grain 
daily. In 1803, another run of stone being added, it 
was made to consume one hundred and thirty bushels 
daily. At the south-east corner of the building, stood, 
for many years, a saw mill, which was first operated by 
Thomas Morley. A fulling mill was built between the 
grist mill and the bridge in 1804, by Colonel Harden- 
burgh. It was leased first to Aslibel Treat, afterward 
to Levi Gregory, and later to Gideon G. Jenkins. 

Colonel Hardenburgh also erected about this time 
a large barn, on the ground now occupied by the file 
factory. The frame of this building, which was no 
fragile afiair, was so heavy that the settlers were called 
in from the whole township to assist in the raising. 
The occasion was one of great festivity. All such 
were among our forefathers. The Western Luminary 
of July 21st, 1807, has a record of the toasts drank at 
one of these raisings, some of which are unique. The 
record states that, " at a meeting of the inhabitants 
of the town of Aurelius, on the 5th instant, after 
raising a barn in the neighborhood, the following toasts 
were drank." Toast sixth was, " The tree of liberty 
— may it ever remain unbent by the power of aristoc- 
racy." Toast eighth, " May the Congress of America 



THE SErrLEMENT OF AURELIUS. 73 

ever hold out the olive-branch in the right hand, while 
it supports the shield of defense in the left." Toast 
fourteenth, " May the angel of freedom ever defend 
the sons of libert}^ from tyranny and oppression, and 
bear their souls on the balmy wings of peace to endless 
joys." Daniel Griffith volunteered the following : 
" May all the enemies to the sons of liberty in Amer- 
ica become hewers of wood and drawers of water." 
This from James Bolton : " The husbandmen of Cay- 
uga — may their wheat ever have the preference in mar- 
ket, and be distributed to all nations by the sons of 
commerce." 

Such was the popular passion, in these simple times, 
for attending house-raisings, that settlers have been 
known to go from Auburn to places as far distant as 
Marcellus, for no other purpose. 

One of the most interesting features of pioneer life 
in Western Kew York was the surprising abundance of 
game that surrounded settlers in the woods, while the 
woods remained. Deer, squirrels, bears, and wolves 
roamed the forest in almost incredible numbers, and 
wild fowl, foxes, rabbits, and raccoons existed in 
myriads. In the wilder regions there were plenty of 
panthers also. So well stocked were the woods in the 
Owasco valley with all these varieties of game, that the 
inhabitants were compelled for years to practice con- 
stant watchfulness, in order to insure the safety of 
their families, and of their flocks and crops. The 



74 niBTORY OF AlUBURN, 

cranberry swamp north of the Indian village, which 
was the favorite retreat of large animals, furnished the 
settlers largely with subsistence. 

The wilderness contained no animals that were more 
dreaded, at first, than the wolves ; for these were gaunt, 
powerful, red-haired beasts, hideous in appearance, and 
dangerous as enemies, and inspired such terror by their 
numbers, that some of the first residents of the town- 
ship built their cabins, for the sake of security, without 
doors, making the windows, with the aid of a ladder, 
serve all the purposes of entrance and exit. The im- 
portance of destroying the wolves led to the adoption, 
at the Aurelius town-meeting in April, 1797, of the 
following resolution : " Voted, that any person who 
shall produce a certificate from any Justice of the 
Peace in the town of Aurelius, certifying that he pro- 
duced tlie head of a full-growing wolf, and make oath 
before such Justice that the same was taken in the 
town of Aurelius, shall be entitled to receive the sum 
of three pounds." These animals were very soon ex- 
terminated or driven oi¥ by the hunters. It is a curious 
fact that nearly three-quarters of the taxes paid in 
Cayuga County for the first few years of its existence 
were for bounties on wolf and bear scalps. 

Panthers were rarely seen hereabouts, yet no man 
durst venture into the lonely parts of the woods with- 
out his gun, for fear of meeting them. The appearance 
of one of these monsters during the building of the 



THE SETTLEMENT OF AURELIUS. iO- 

Genesee Street bridge, in 1802, created great excite- 
ment in the village. A bo}^ by the name of Samuel 
Warner, a brother-in-law of William Bostwick, had 
been searching for his cows in the woods on the west side 
of what is now the big dam, and becoming weary 
and warm, had sat down to rest mider a tree on the 
bank, and fallen into a drowse. The lad, still in a sit- 
ting posture, was suddenly roused from the comfortable- 
nap he was taking by a loud growl coming from over- 
head. Looking up, he saw a panther on the lower 
branches of the tree against which he was leaning,, 
preparing to spring down upon him. He was badly 
frightened. Without casting a look behind, he sprang 
to his feet and ran with the speed of the wind toward 
the settlement, stumbling over the logs and througk 
the brush, and hotly pursued by the panther. The lad 
outran the beast, which gave up the chase as they 
neared the clearings. As soon as Warner could relate 
the circumstances to the settlers, they collected all the 
dogs and guns in the village, and, led by William 
Bostwick, chased the panther back into the woods. 
They tracked him till sunset, but could not come 
up with him. 

Of bears there was no end. This class of indigenes, 
made sad work with the crops, and often came boldly 
into the village. The bears were much sought after 
by the hunters, who prized their meat highly, it being 
quite palatable, and more substantial than venison.. 



'70 IIISTOKY OF AUBL■K^'. 

Old Prince, a negro who lived in a hut near the big 
«lm with his wdfe Dilly, a Narragausett squaw, was 
once visited by a huge specimen of this genus in the 
evening. The bear was repulsed and treed by means 
of firebrands, and shot. Dr. Burt once encountered a 
bear in the hemlock swamp, and was forced to climb 
a tree standing near the Burtis brewery for safety. 
Another of the race once made a nocturnal descent upon 
the house of Daniel Cogswell, on the opposite side of 
the outlet. The house was unfinished, and the door 
was closed with nothing more than a blanket. Bruin 
pushed this aside during the night, and, stepping in, 
proceeded to rummage the cabin for provisions. After 
licking out the frying-kettle, he crept under the bed, 
which, containing the family, was suspended in the air 
l)y means of poles resting on crotches driven into the 
ground, and went to sleep. He departed in the morn- 
ing, without molesting any of the terrified inmates of 
the bed, all of whom had passed a sleepless night, 
"with their heads under the clothes. 

The deer, whose marked partiality for wheat troubled 
the early agriculturists exceedingly, were countless. 
They might be seen at all times around the clearings, 
browsing upon the trees cut down by the w^ood-chop- 
pers. Hunters always sought these places for deer, 
-and seldom returned from them empty-handed. It was 
no difiicult thing, however, for experienced woodsmen 
to get venison in any part of the forest. 



THE SETTLEMENT OF AURELIUS. TT 

■?!• The squirrels were a great pest. The woods teemed! 
with them, and their ravages were sometimes of the- 
most serious nature. They have been known to enter 
immense corn-iields during the harvest season and de- 
stroy the grain so thoroughly as not to leave an ear un- 
touched. Their extermination was accordingly a mat- 
ter of the utmost importance. This could be effected^ 
however, only by grand township hunts, in which every 
man that owned a rifle was expected to engage. These 
hunts were common in Cayuga County for over thirty 
years, and sometimes lasted a week, during which it 
was the aim of every sportsman to obtain the largest 
number of scalps. At one such hunt in Sempronius, 
thirty young fellows killed one thousand and forty- 
eight squirrels ; at one in Scipio, four thousand and two 
hundred were killed ; one in Mentz disposed of five 
thousand and three hundred, in like manner. The reader 
will gain a better idea of the multitude of these little 
animals in the American forests sixty years ago, when 
we say that during one hunt in Berlin, Vermont, 
twelve thousand and four hundred squirrels were shot, 
and in the course of another at Chillicothe, Ohio, 
fully twenty thousand. 

So great was originally the abundance of game in 
the township of Aurelius, that our early settlers de- 
pended principally upon the chase for animal food. 
They were, however, also very fond of fish, and re- 
sorted to the Cayuga and Seneca Rivers constantly to 



78 HISTORY OF AUBURN. 

obtain them. The neighborhood of the salt springs on 
•Cayuga River, and Mosquito Point on the Seneca, was 
also at an early day a favorite pasture-ground for the 
settlers' herds. It was a common thing to drive cattle 
down to these places and leave them there duiing the 
summer, each man's cattle being distinguished by a 
peculiar ear-mark, which he had previously recorded 
as his own in the town-book of Aurelius. 

The new Seneca turnpike wafted many fresh set- 
tlers to the little hamlet at the Owasco bridge. John 
H. Cumpston, who bought the old O'Brien store and 
earned it on till after the war of 1812 ; Silas Ilawley, 
the stove-maker and tanner, who established a tannery 
where the Baptist church now stands ; and Reuben 
Burgess, the first hatter, settled in 1803. The second 
hatter, Seth Burgess, began business in 1804 on the 
present east corner of Seminaiy Avenue and Genesee 
Street, just east of which, the following year, he built 
his residence. Lyman Paine settled in 1804, and 
•opened an asliery three years later on the outlet, near 
the present Cayuga County Bank. Jacob Doremus 
came the same year with Mr. Paine. He started a 
tannery on the bank of the creek, just east of the 
y ashery, and built a store, wliich was sold in 1811 to 
Robert Muir. 

Henry Ammerman settled in 1804, also. He came 
to Cayuga County, in 1801, from the southern part of 
Pennsylvania, and resided for a few years on a farm to 



THE SETTLEMENT OF AUKELIUS. T9 

the east of Owasco Lake. His health being poor, he 
was invited to come to this place by Colonel Harden- 
burgh, and engage in some less laborious occupation 
than farming. An offer was made him of a building 
lot, and the lumber for a house. Receiving a deed for 
an half-acre lot, now the site of the Hudson House, he 
cleared away the trees, dug up the stumps, and erected 
there a tavern, into which he moved in November of the 
forementioned year. The house became known in 1806 
as the " Farmers' Inn." It was a favorite stopping-place 
with those who were attending court, whether jurors 
or lawyers, and with farmers. It was purchased about 
the year 1816 by Matthias Hoffman, and afterward 
by Timothy Strong. 

Mr. Ammerman was one of the most honorable and 
valuable men of the village during his residence here, 
and ever sustained a reputation for enterprise, good 
judgment, and integrity, of the highest order. 

John Demaree and Ephraim Lockhart built a cabi- 
net shop opposite the Farmers' Inn, in 1804, replacing 
it, in 1806, with a two-story wooden tavern. The 
brick cabinet-shop east thereof was erected in 1815. 
Jeremiah O'Callaghan built the first stone house here 
in 1805, on a lane that has since grown into Seminary 
Avenue, on the west side, and just north of Franklin 
Street. This house fell to pieces in a few years, the 
mortar being of an inferior quality, and being washed 
out by the rain, A goldsmith's shop was opened in 



80 illSTOKY OF AUBURN. 

1805, by Frederick Young, on the site of the present 
jewelry store of John W. Ilaight ; this was afterward 
owned by Joseph Davis, and, in 1814, by Jonathan 
Russell. William Cox, the first tailor ; Anselra S. 
Ilowland, who had a hat-store west of Doremus' tan- 
nery ; Henry Polhemus, the merchant and miller ; 
Zephaniah Caswell, tlie lawyer ; John Walker, who, 
with Silas Hawley, erected the first carding mill on 
the Owasco Outlet, in the year of his arrival, at the 
west end of Hardenburgh's dam ; and many others, 
settled in 1805. 

Robert and John Patty began business at the Cor- 
ners in 1805, on the west side of Lumber Lane, near 
the corner of Genesee Street, in a shop which was long 
remembered as having been built with some unseasoned 
boards that shrank apart on drying, and permitted 
petty larcenies through the gaping seams in the sidea 
of the building. The Messrs. Patty had previously 
been traveling peddlers, and their store was first 
stocked with the contents of their packs. They built 
an ashery south of their store, soon after their settle- 
ment. In 180Y, they started a tannery in the lot on 
the corner of the streets adjoining Hawley's, which 
they enlarged from time to time till it became a large 
and prosperous establishment. The tan-bark was 
ground in a little building standing near the dam 
across the way, by means of a large stone, which was 
made to roll in a circle upon a bed of stone, and was 



THE SEITLEMENT OF AUKELIUS. 81 

maintained in an upriglit position by an axle reacliing 
to a strong post in the center of the bed. 

Watrons Pomeroy, the carpenter, settled in 1805. 
His first lodgings here was a log cabin on the eastern 
corner of ISTorth and Grenesee Streets, which then stood 
tenantless, and was used by all new-comers for tempo- 
rary shelter. He built, in 1808, for Jonathan Eussell, 
a tavern on a little knoll, now the site of the Exchange 
block of stores. He bought the tavern himself in 1809, 
but sold out in 1810 to Eobert L. Tracy, and after- 
ward kept the Willard House, an inn which stood 
just west of the American Hotel. 

Micajah Benedict, a veteran of the Revolution, and 
a personal friend of the gallant LaFayette, who called 
him Micajah " Pen-and-ink," settled on a farm on the 
turnpike, east of Hunter's, in May, 1805. 

William Bostwick's new framed tavern, then the- 
admiration of the whole township, was erected on high 
ground on the western corner of Genesee, and what ia 
now Exchange Streets, in 1803-4. It was a two-story 
building, with four rooms on the first floor, and a, 
piazza in front, and stood on a foundation of large flat 
stones, quarried from the bed of the outlet, set up 
edgewise. The long room of this tavern was for years 
the only hall fit for exhibitions, balls, public meetings, 
or religious worship, in the place. Canfield Coe bought 
the property May 1st, 1816, and enlarged it by build- 
ing a wing on the east side. Emanuel D. Hudson pur- 
4 



82 FIISTOKY OF AT BURN. 

chased it a few j-eavs later, raised tlie roof, built the 
south wing and the two piazzas in front, and styled it 
<' the Western Exchange." This old tavern, after nu- 
merous improvements, which made it a first-class hotel, 
was demolished in the si)ring of 1S68, to be succeeded 
by a block of three brick stores. 

The anniversary of national independence was first 
celebrated at Hardenburgh's Corners in 1804:. By in- 
vitation and previous arrangement, the residents of the 
township assembled at the village in great numbers 
early in the day, to take part in the festivities, and 
Captain James Wilson came down from Brutus at the 
head of a band of militia for the same purpose. The 
people at the Corners, having made all possible prepa- 
ration for the comfort of their guests, opened the day by 
erecting a liberty-pole, and running up to the top of 
it a piece of red silk, furnished by Daniel Hyde, in lieu 
of a banner, there being no national flag in the neigh- 
borhood. Everything seemed propitious for a gleeful 
celebration ; but just at the threshold of the exercises 
trouble occurred. Political feeling ran high at this pe- 
riod between the two great parties of the country, both 
being exceedingly jealous lest the other should be swayed 
in some manner by either British or French influence, 
and neither of them being slow to seize upon every 
chance occurrence as evidence of the justice of their 
fears in this direction. No sooner had the color of, 
the fluttering silk at the head of the liberty-pole; 



THE SETTLEMENT OF AUEELIUS. 83 

caught the attention of the Democrats, than a hubbub 
ensued. 

Philip Jenkins was dispatched to Colonel Harden- 
burgh with the information that a British flag had been 
raised in the village. The Colonel was greatly offend- 
ed, and instantly ordered Captain Wilson to take his 
men and shoot the flag down. This command would 
have been executed, had not a parley taken place, 
which ended in the removal of the oflending colors be- 
fore a shot had been fired. This circumstance engen- 
dered bitter feelings and broke up the celebration. 
The next year, a national flag was provided in antici- 
pation of the anniversary, which was then observed in 
a highly patriotic manner. An oration was delivered 
by the Rev. David Higgins in the yellow school-house, 
and a public dinner was spread for the yeomanry, who 
accordingly returned home after it was finished in ex- 
cellent humor. A subsequent anniversary was cele- 
brated in Colonel Hardenburgh's large barn, David 
Hyde delivering the oration. 

That amelioration and refinement were making 
rapid strides in the midst of the pioneers in 1805, is evi- 
dent from an event of that year which comes down to 
us in glowing colors through all .^who took part in it. 
This was a grand ball, the first in the village, and at- 
tended by guests from all the openings for miles around. 
The particulars of this famous ball, which was held on 
the Fourth of July, in the long room of Bostwick's 



84 HISTORY OF AUBUKN. 

tavern, are still told with ^reat minuteness, and we 
learn that Zeplianiah Caswell, the lawyer, and Mis& 
Laura Benedict, now Mrs. James Tibbies, opened the 
dance with " monie nmsk " in graceful style, at three 
o'clock in the afternoon. The committee of arrange- 
ments was Dr. Burt, Daniel Hyde, John II. Cump- 
ston. Dr. Ellis, and Zeplianiah Caswell. In accordance 
with the simple customs of the times, the approach of 
night dispersed the dancers to their homes. 

For several years after the organization of the origi- 
nal Cayuga County, the village of Aurora, which was 
then centra], and nearest to the most populous towns, 
was its capital. Though not designated by law as 
the county seat, it was the place in which the courts 
were held, and the supervisors convened, and was 
generally regarded as the leading market town of the 
county. The jail of the district was located at Canan- 
daigua, although there was for a time a log building 
at Cayuga that was used for the imprisonment of; 
debtors. The growth and extent of the county neces- 
sitating a division of its territory, a law w^as passed in 
1804, reducing it to nearly its present size. Through. 
the influence of Amos Rathburn, of Scipio, and John 
Grover, of Aurelius, both Federalists, and then mem- 
bers of the Legislatm'e, the law was made to contain 
provision for the erection of the court-house and 
jail of the newly-delined county at the village ot 
Sherwood's Corners, under the direction of Johni 



THE SETTLEMENT OF AUBELIUS. 85 

Tillottson, Augustus Cliidsey, and John Grover, Jr., 
to defray the expenses of which tlie supervisors wei'e 
to raise, by tax, the sum of fifteen hundred dollars. 

A warm controversy arose in the county over this 
action of the Legislatiii-e. The inconvenience of travel 
to Sherwood's Corners, which was far one side of the 
territorial center of the county, and of the principal 
lines of intercommunication, led all the other villages 
to oppose the location of the county buildings at the 
forementioned place, and to assert their own claims to 
the honor of the county seat. Jehiel Clark, among 
others, advocated the erection of the court-house at 
Clarksville ; but Hardenburgh's Corners, Cayuga, Le- 
vanna, and Aurora, each stoutly contested for the 
prize. The three commissioners above named never 
acted under the law of 1804, further than to desimate 
a site for the buildings at Sherwood's. The law was 
revoked, and, on the 16th day of March, 1805, Hon. 
Edward Savage, of Washington County, Hon. James 
Burt, of Orange County, both then State Senators, and 
Hon. James Hildreth, of Montgomery County, were 
appointed to explore Cayuga County, and decide the 
location of its capital. 

The commissioners discharged this duty the June 
following. Hardenburgh's Corners was chosen as the 
county seat for its centrality, its position in the high- 
ways of travel, and its prospective importance. The 
commissioners only required that an acre of land 



86 mSTOKY OF AUBURN. 

should he donated for the site of the public buildings. 
They selected a location on William Bostwick's farm, 
and Dr. Burt, Henry Ammennan, John H. Cumpston? 
and Daniel Hyde, agreed that the State should receive 
a deed of it, which promise was in due time fulfilled. 
The four citizens named advanced to Mr. Bostwick 
two hundred dollars for the conveyance. 

The southern towns were exceedingly dissatisfied at 
the location of the county seat on the Owasco Outlet, 
and their supervisors, by refusing to appropriate suita- 
ble funds, delayed the building of the court-house for 
several years. The citizens of this place, however, 
began the construction of that building with their own 
resources ; they then procured the passage of a law im- 
posing a fine of two hundred and fifty dollars upon 
every supervisor refusing to levy taxes when legally re- 
quired, and sued six of the obstreperous ofiicials under 
the law. A compromise was thus effected. The 
money was raised to finish the court-house, and the 
work w^as completed in 1809, under the superintend- 
ence of John|jGlover, Stephen Chase, and Noah Olm- 
sted, at an expense of ten thousand dollars. 

The first com't-house was a strong wooden edifice, 
two stories high, painted white. The jail and jailor's 
apartments were contained in the lower story, the 
walls of which were built of huge upright logs, united 
with heavy iron spikes. The lawn in front of the 
building, which stood a few feet behind the site of the 



THE SETTLEMENT OF AUEELirS. 87 

present court-house, was a convenient and popular 
place for public meetings. 

" Court-House Green," as it was called, was often 
thus used in pleasant weather. The first term of 
court ever held in the new building was that of the 
General Sessions of the Peace, beginning May 17th, 
1808, Hons. Elijah Price, Barnabas Smith, Charles 
Kellogg, and William C. Bermet being the presid- 
ing Justices. The name of Israel Reeve is always as- 
sociated with the first court-house, for that gentle- 
man occupied the post of jailor, then a responsible and 
much esteemed position, for over eleven years. 

Rapid growth at Hardenburgh's Corners began 
with the designation of the village as the capital of 
the county, the erection of the public buildings, and 
the removal here of the archives. These were impor- 
tant measures. They overturned a settled but adverse 
condition of things in the county, and, attracting 
hither a strong corps of lawyers, who expected to re- 
side at the county seat, wherever it might be, brought 
to the village a most valuable class of citizens. The 
village gained through them wealth and influence. 
The honor of the ultimate success of these measures 
must be ascribed, in no small degree, to the Hon. 
Enos T. Throop, who, a student from the law office of 
the Hon. James Hildreth, at Albany, had settled here 
in the spring of 1806, after a short residence and prac- 
tice in the town of Scipio. Mr. Throop became the 



88 IlISTOKY OF ArBUKX. 

law partner of Hon. Jose})h L. Richardson, upon his 
arrival at the Corners. He took great interest in the 
decision of the county seat question, and was the prose- 
cuting attorney in the successful action against tlie 
hostile supervisors. He was one of the most affable, 
energetic, and talented men in tlie community, and in 
later years won his way, by strict integrity and ster- 
ling w^orth, to a seat in Congress, and afterward to the 
gubernatorial chair of this State. 

When the State commissioners had signified to the 
citizens of Hardenburgh's Corners their intention to 
constitute this place the county seat, tlie propriety of 
a more dignified and manageable name for the village 
was suggested. The subject was therefore agitated. 
A variety of views being disclosed, a meeting of the 
inhabitants was assembled at Bost wick's tavern for a 
decision of the question, and the matter referred to a 
committee, consisting of Dr. Ellis, Dr. Samuel Crossett, 
and Moses Sawyer. Dr. Crossett suggested the adop- 
tion of the name " Auburn," which the committee was 
disposed to accept, and accordingly reported to the 
meeting. But the prototype of the poet's xluburn, 
which was situated in the county of Longford, Ireland, 
in a parish or curacy held by his uncle, twelve miles 
north of the railroad that traverses the island from 
Galway to Dublin, and just east of the river Shannon, 
was not only the loveliest, but the most neglected vil- 
lage of the beautiful plain upon which it stood, and 



THE SEITLEMENT OF AURELIUS, 89 

Colonel riardenburgli and several others opposed the 
adoption of the committee's report, on the ground that 
the name " Auburn " was synonymous with " deserted 
village," and would injure tlie place. In lieu of Au- 
burn, they suggested the names " Hardenburgh " and 
" Mount Maria." Captain Edward Wheeler liked 
none of these, but was in favor of calling the place 
" Centre." A strong debate ensued, but Auburn was 
finally chosen by a very large majority of the assembled 
inhabitants. A meeting was subsequently called to 
induce the people to reverse this decision; but they 
permitted no departure from their first action. 

Like all villages on main routes of travel in the early 
part of the present century. Auburn was distinguished 
for the number of her taverns. It was the tavern- 
keeping age of the country, when the ceaseless current 
of emigration and transportation wagons across the 
State created the necessity for the establishment of 
public houses in great numbers, not only in the villages 
which were the depots of trade, but along all the roads. 
Between Auburn and Skaneateles there were at one 
time nine such houses, and between Auburn and Cay- 
uga, six. Four had already been erected in Auburn 
by 1805. A fifth was commenced that year. This 
was the Auburn Center House, which was begun by 
William Smith, and finished, in 1806, by David Horner. 

It stood facing the east on the three-sided lot at the 
corner of Market and Genesee Streets, and was a con- 



90 HISTORY OF AUBUKN. 

gpicuous building. Here in early days many of the 
courts were held. The long room was in constant 
use for meetings of every description ; the tirst Pres- 
byterian Society was organized there, and the first 
Sunday school for white children. Hon. Joseph L. 
Richardson, who removed to Auburn from Scipio in 
1805, began the practice of the law in this tavern, in 
partnership with Enos T. Throop. The open space 
under the front veranda of the building was used in 
later years for the storage of fire utensils and hooks 
and ladders. The Center House passed intoi the pos- 
session of Charles Reading about the time of the war. 
In 1816, Henry Ammerman bought it, but sold it soon 
after to Andrew Brown, of Woodstock, Conn., who, in 
1829, conveyed the whole property to Ezekiel Williams. 
Being then removed to make way for a block of store- 
houses, the old tavern was placed on Fulton Street, 
where it now forms the residence of William Lamey. 

The principal accession to the population of the vil- 
lage in 1806, were Dr. Joseph Cole ; John Wagstaff, 
the coppersmith ; Captain William Clark, the farmer ; 
Benjamin Yard, the carpenter and joiner ; Robert Dill, 
the greatest land owner, and one of the most public- 
spirited men of the place ; Samuel D. Lockwood, the 
law^'^er ; George F. Leitch, the merchant ; Captain Ed- 
ward Allen, the manufacturer; Horace Hills, the mer- 
chant ; Daniel Lounsbury ; Jonathan Russel, the silver- 
smith; Clark Camp, the mill- Wright ; and Reuben Swift, 



THE SETTLEMENT OF AUKELIUS. 91 

the miller. In 180Y, the principal new settlers were- 
David Brinkerhoff; Colonel John Eichardson, the 
cabinet-maker; Reuben Porter ; Hon. Elijah Miller, th& 
lawyer, previously of Cayuga; Elijah Jarvis; Elisha 
T. Swift ; and Peter Hughes, then the County Clerk.. 
David Hyde settled here in 1808 ; Hon. William 
P>rown, Hon. John H. Beach, and Dr. Joseph T. Pit- 
ney, in 1809 ; and, among others, Hon. John Porter,. 
Samuel C. Dunham, and Elisha Pease, in 1810. 

The archives of Cayuga County were removed to- 
Auburn in 1807, by Peter Hughes, then County Clerk,, 
pursuant to the requirements of the law of April 3d of 
that year, which, among other things, directed the con- 
struction of a fire-proof clerk's office here, under the- 
supervision of three county commissioners. The 
court-house controversy being then at its height, no 
clerk's office could be built, and the records were 
kept for several years in the residence of Mr. Hughes, 
built in 1807. This house, now the residence of Dr.. 
Edward Hall, was, when erected, surrounded by the 
original forest. A stone clerk's office was finally built 
in 1814, under the direction of Henry Ammerman,, 
Dr. Burt, and Henry Moore, at an expense of eight 
hundred dollars, in which the records were thereafter 
kept. 

The establishment of a newspaper was the chief 
event of 1808. Henry and James Pace, two ancient- 
looking, dumpy little Englishmen, had begun, on the- 



t92 HI8TOKY OF AUBUliN. 

SOth of April, 180G, the publication of a paper called 
the Gazette^ at Aurora, but, starved out by the re- 
■moval of the county seat, had brought their whole office 
•to Auburn as a more profitable ileld of operation. 
They issued here a new w^cekly j)aper, entitled the 
Western Federalist^ the first number of wliich ap- 
peared on the 7th day of June, 1808. It was printed 
on coarse, blue paper, ten inches wide by fifteen long, 
in a little office standing a few yards west of the pres- 
•ent Cayuga County Bank. Everything about this 
office seemed the dusky relics of a distant age, and the 
type was really so, having been used so long in the old 
world before it came to America, that it was worn 
•down nearly to the " first nick." The Western Feder- 
<alist was generally patronized by the residents of 
Auburn, as one of the local institutions, though its 
politics offended some. 

The only other newspapers in the county at this 
time, were the Levanna Gazette, or Onondaga Ad- 
vertiser, printed by R. Delano, Esq., the first issue of 
whicli bore date of June 8th, 1798, and the West- 
<ern Luminary, by Ebenezer Eaton, established at 
"Watkins Settlement, March 24th, 1801. 

Seventeen little manufacturing establishments, scat- 
itered along the banks of the Owasco Outlet in 1810, 
betokened the progress of local improvements. Of 
these, there were five saw mills, four grist mills, two 
■-stills, two fulling mills, two carding machines, one 



THE SETTLEMENT OF AUEELIUS. 9S 

smithy, and one oil mill. The nmnber of dams m 
and near Auburn, was six. 

The upper dam was built in 1807, by Elijah Swift,, 
with the adjacent saw and grist mills. An attempt had 
been made two years before by a settler by the name 
of John Myers to build a dam some thirty or forty 
rods above this, but Mr. Myers was a trespasser, and 
his dam a failure, so that the latter was never used. 
The original dam on the site of the big dam was- 
built in 1808, by Daniel Hyde, the owner of large tracts, 
of land contiguous to the outlet, on both sides. Mr. 
Hyde erected, the same year, an extensive grist and 
saw mill on the east bank of the stream, and, in 1810, 
a mill standing at the west end of the dam, for the 
manufacture of linseed oil. The oil mill was destroyed 
by fire in 1811, but was soon thereafter rebuilt by 
David Hyde and John H. Beach, the purchasers of 
all of Daniel Hyde's property. A still was also put 
into operation by these gentlemen in 1812, near the grist 
mill. Robert Dill's log dam was erected in 1809, on 
the site of Barber's, and furnished power to drive the 
machinery of a saw mill on the ground now occupied 
by the woolen factory, and that of a forge-shop opposite, 
both of which establishments were, when built, situat- 
ed in the heart of dense woods. A fulling mill was 
erected in 1810, near the saw mill, by Mr. Dill and 
John Walker ; it stood five or six years, and was then, 
with the adjoining buildings, consumed by fire. Jehiel 



•-94 IlISTOUY OF ALBURN. 

'Clark had two dams at Clarksville, one furnishiiig; 
power to a grist mill, and the lower one to a saw mill. 

The village of Anbiirn was visited in 1810 by two 
<ielebrated travelers, both of whom have left interesting 
statements of the result of their observations here. 
De Witt Clinton remained in the village long enough 
to eather from its inhabitants the materials for the fol- 
lowing sketch : 

" Auburn derives its name from Goldsmith. It contains three 
^tanneries, three distilleries, one coachmaker, two watchmakers, 
four taverns, two tailors, six merchants, three shoemakers, two 
potasheries, two wagonmakers, three blacksmiths, two chairmakers, 
•three saddlers, three physicians, a Presbyterian clergyman, and 
an incorporated library of two hundred and twenty volumes. It 
is the county town, and has about ninety houses, three law oflSces, 
a post-oflBlce, the court-house, and the county clerk's office. It is 
.a fine growing place, and is indebted to its hydraulic works and 
the court-house for its prosperity. There are sixteen lawyers in 
"Cayuga County. Auburn has no church. The court-house is 
used for divine worship. 

" It is situated on the outlet of Owasco Lake, on numbers forty- 
six and forty-seven, Aurelius. One hundred acres of forty-six be- 
long to William Bostwick, inn-keeper, and the remainder to 
Robert Dill. The former has asked one hundred and fifty dollars 
for half-acre lots, the court house being on his land'; and the latter 
has asked three hundred dollars for a water-lot on the outlet, 
which is not navigable. Number forty-seven belongs to the heirs 
of John H. Hardenburgh, and covers the best waters of the outlet, 
and a fine, rapid stream. Auburn is eight miles from Cayuga Lake, 
three from Owasco Lake, and not seventy-five from Utica. Owasco 
liake is twelve miles long and one wide. The outlet is fourteen 
miles long, and on it are the following hydraulic establishments : 



THE SETrLEMENT OF AUKELIUS. 95 

nine saw mills, two carding machines, two turners' shops, one trip- 
hammer and blacksmith shop, two oil mills, fire grist mills, three 
fulling mills, one bark mill, and several tanneries. At the lower 
falls, Mr. Dill has a furnace, in which he uses old iron, there being 
no iron ore. At this place there is a Federal newspaper, 
published by Pace, the former partner of James Thompson Cal- 
lender. Pace settled first at Aurora, being attracted there hj 
Walter Wood, and, being starved out, he came here, and is princi- 
pally supported by advertisements of mortgages, which must, if 
there be a paper in the county where the lands lie, be printed in 
it, and this is the only one in Cayuga County. 

" The machine for picking wool (Jehiel Clark's) is excellent. 
The carding machine is next used, and turns out the wool in com- 
plete rolls. It can card one hundred and twelve pounds per day ; 
and one man attends both. Four shillings per pound is given for 
wool. Carding, picking, and greasing wool — the grease furnished 
by the owner of the wool — is eight pence per pound. There are 
upwards of twenty carding machines in this county, and great 
numbers of sheep are driven to the New York markets. The lin- 
seed oil mill (Hyde & Beach's) can express fifteen gallons of oil in 
a day, and, with a great effort, a barrel. The flax-seed is broken 
by two mill-stones placed perpendicularly, like those of bark 
mills, and following each other in succession. Seed costs from 
two to seven shillings per bushel, and each bushel produces three 
or four quarts. The oil sells at the mill for nine shillings a gallon. 
Oil is also expressed from the seed of the sunflower. One bushel 
makes two gallons. It is excellent for burning, and makes no 
smoke. Oil is also made here from palmi christi. 

"At a mill northwest from Auburn, on thirty-seven, Aurelius, a 
spring rises perpendicularly out of the level earth. It produces 
two hogsheads a minute, and immediately forms a mill-stream. 
A few yards^below it^is a falling mill (Hayden's). The water is un- 
commonly good and cold. I found in it a honey-combed fossil 



96 HISTORY OF AlBUKN. 

like those at the sulphur springs at Cherry Valley, and near Geneva. 
This spring is called the Cold Spring. There are two or three 
others near it, and the creek formed by them, called Cold Spring 
Creek, contains excellent trout. About a mile from the Cold 
Spring there is a sulphur spring, (situated on the Sears farm, and 
afterward used for a water-cure). From the fossil found at the 
Cold Spring, and the coldness of the water, it must run over sul- 
phur. There is a sulphur spring on the margin of Cayuga Lake."' 

The accuracy and fullness of this description stamps- 
its author as an observant and thoughtful traveler, 
Mr. Clinton made similar notes on every place that he 
visited, a fact which is the secret of his wonderful 
familiarity with the resources and advantages of our 
State. 

The second of the forementioned tourists was an 
Irish gentleman, by the name of John B. Melish, who, 
in a volimie of " Travels through the United States 
during the years 1806, 1807, 1809, 1810, and 1811," 
published at Belfast, Ireland, on the 1st of May, 1818, 
made mention of Auburn as the seat of justice of 
Cayuga County, and prophesied its future greatness. 
His sketch was substantially the same as Clinton's, 
and need not be repeated. Mr. Melish visited nearly 
every place of note in this State and the country, pur- 
suing his travels for the most part on horseback. 

The two travelers drew a pleasant picture of the 
rising village of Aubm-n. The houses of the place 
had increased in number to an hundred ; land was en- 
hancing in value ; the inhabitants were moral and in- 



THE SETiLEMENT OE AURELTUS, 97 

dustrious ; cheerfuliK^ss and plenty reigned ; there was 
not a grog-s'iop in the village ; the people were devel- 
oping their material resources ; and the settlement was 
gradually acquiring permanence and character. 

Thomas "Wilber, the cooper ; Tilliman Beach, and 
John S. Burt, merchants ; Chauncej Dibble, the ma- 
chinist ; Dr. A. M. Bennett ; and Stephen Yan An- 
den, the tailor, settled in Auburn, and Dr. Joseph 
Clary, in Throopsville, in 1811. 

The first Congregational Society of Auburn was or- 
ganized the 17th day of September, 1810, at a meeting 
of the citizens of the village and vicinity, held at the 
tavern of David Horner ; at which Major Bartholomew 
Yan Yalkenburg presided, and Moses Gilbert was sec- 
retary. Trustees of the society were elected, viz : 
Hobert Dill, Henry Ammerman, Silas Hawley, Moses 
Gilbert, and Major 'Noah Olmsted. The church was 
organized the next year, on the 14:th day of July, in 
the long room of the same tavern, by the Rev. David 
Higgins and his congregation. The record of this 
event is as follows : 

" The propriety ani importance of an establishment of this na- 
ture having been a subject of frequent and serious conversation 
among a number of individuals, who were solicitous that it might 
be affected ; and having sought from time to time Divine direc- 
tion in a measure of so great moment ; having also conversed to- 
gether on the essential subjects of experimental, practical, and 
doctrinal religion ; and having agreed on certain articles of faith 
and practice to be adopted by them as members of a Christian 
5 . 



08 IIISTORV OF AUBUKN. 

church; the followin;? persons did, on the Lord's day, July 14th, 
1811, come together in the time of public worship, openly ac- 
knowledge, and uiLitually profess the succeeding articles of the 
Christian faith, renew their covenant with God, and unite in a re- 
lation together, viz : Daniel Herring, Silas Hawley, Oliver Lynch, 
Eunice Higgins, Sarah Gilbert, Betsey T3der, Rachel Parker, Sa- 
rah Hawley, Anna Cogswell." 

Horace Hills was chosen clerk of the church, Octo- 
ber 16th, 1811, and iu August, 1813, Rev. Hezekiah 
'N. "Woodruff was installed its pastor. The Presbyte- 
rian mode of church government and discipline was 
unanimously adopted, August 5th, 1814. On the 4th 
of the following December, John Oliphant and Silas 
Hawley were ordained elders. The congregation met 
for worship, during the first six years of its existence, 
in the court-house, and the long room of the Center 
tavern. 

The first Protestant Episcopal Church of this village 
was organized under peculiar circumstances, and was 
the direct result of an intolerant spirit on the part of 
the Congregational minister then presiding over the 
mixed congregation at Hardenburgh's Corners. The 
.minister was for some cause absent on the Lord's day, 
and William Bostwick, who, notwithstanding his warm 
and open attachment to the Episcopal Church, liad ac- 
cepted the position of trustee in the only religious or- 
ganization in the village, in order to promote good 
order and sound morals here, was invited to read the 
religious exercises of the day. Mr. Bostwick did so, 



THE SETTLEMENT OF AUKELIUS. 99 

Teading, with tlie aid of another gentleman, the Epis- 
copal service, and a sermon. The people entertained 
no thought of evil, since this was done by general re- 
quest. But the following Sunday the minister again 
took the pulpit, and openly and severely rebuked the 
gentlemen who had dared to make use of the Episco- 
pal liturgy in his congregation. 
9 The Episcopal members of the church withdrew 
lafter this assault upon their cherished principles, and, in 
July, 1805, assembled at the residence of Dr. Hackaliah 
Burt, and organized St. Peter's Church, the first regu- 
larly formed religious society of Auburn. There were 
present at the meeting the Rev. Davenport Phelps, 
Thomas Jeffries, Jeduthun Higley, Timothy Hatch, 
Ebenezer Phelps, John Pierson, Joel Lake, William 
Bostwick, and Dr. Burt. After suitable prayers, Ma- 
jor William J. Yredenburgh and Dr. Hackaliah Burt 
were elected wardens; and Jonathan Jeffries, Jona- 
than Booth, Timothy Hatch, William Bostwick,. Jedu- 
thun Higley, Joel Lake, John Pierson, and Ebenezer 
Phelps, vestrymen. 

The congregation enjoyed the occasional ministra- 
tions of the Pev. Mr. Phelps for several years, meeting 
for divine service in the long room of Bostwick's tav- 
ern. Mr. Bostwick, who was possessor of one of those 
curious, old-fashioned pitch-pipes, in use at this 
early day, and then the only instrument of the 
kind in the village, led, with his wife and three 



100 lIIbTOKY OF Al-'BUKN. 

daughters, the singing. It being in every respect de- 
sirable to give tlie young chureli prominence by 
building a sanctuary, an acre lot was cleared of the 
trees and conveyed to the society by Mr. Bostwick, 
who was enabled, in 1811, with the assistance of a do- 
nation of one thousand dollars from Trinity Church, in 
New York, and the warm co-operation of his fellow 
Episcopalians' in the village, to erect a small but strong 
and graceful wooden church, the first in Auburn, 
The building was not finished for several years, the 
columns in the interior long retaining their bark, and 
the seats originally in use being of no more elaborate 
make than benches constructed of half-round slabs from 
the saw mill, supported by six stout w^ooden legs, and 
destitute of both backs and arms. 

When this church was nearly finished, the workmen 
went home one evening, leaving a lightning-rod, that 
they had been putting up during the day, disconnected 
with the ground. In the depth of the night a fearful 
storm sprang up, accompanied with heavy thunder and 
the most vivid flashes of lightning. The church was 
in a dangerous situation, but William Bostwick, awak- 
ened by the storm, hurriedly dressed, and with his 
faithful negro, Albert Ilagernian, hastened to the 
building, and by the glare of the flashes of lightning 
finished the connection of the rods with the ground, 
and effected by his daring act its safety. 

The leading enterprise of 1811 in Auburn was one 



THE SETTLEMENT OF AUKELIUS. 101 

that arose out of the feeble and inefficient condition of 
the common schools. The education of youth was a 
matter of deep solicitude with the prominent men of 
the village, w^ho, remarking the beneficial influence of 
good schools upon society in the larger towns, were 
led to suggest the erection of an academy in this, and 
to support the proposition with offers of material aid. 
,The project was first generally agitated in the fall of 
1810. 

A public meeting was called to ascertain the popular 
opinion on the subject. Robert Dill addressed this meet- 
ing, and signified his willingness to donate a school site 
on whichever side of the outlet the people should deem 
most convenient ; John H. Cumpston ofifered another 
site, situated at the head of Cumpston Street ; "William 
Bostwick was disposed to give a lot located on his 
farm ; and John H. Hardenburgh not only offered the 
lot now occupied by the First Presbyterian Church, 
but labored strenuously to induce its acceptance. 
Leaving the selection of a site, however, to the future, 
this preliminarf meeting resolved, " That an academy 
would not only be conducive to the happiness and pros- 
perity of this village, but of great and lasting benefit 
to its immediate vicinity, and the neighboring and ad- 
jacent towns and villages ; " and appointed William 
Bostwick, Dr. Hackaliah Burt, and David Brinkerhoff', a 
committee to solicit subscriptions to a building fund. It 
was considered prudent to make the provision that sub- 



102 



JIISTOKY OF AUDUKN. 



scriptions should not be binding till one hundred and 
fifty shares, at least, of twentj'- dollars each, had been, 
subscribed, 

A subscription paper was started by this very influ- 
ential committee, December 7th, 1810. By January 
5th, 1811, two hundred and five shares were reported 
as taken. The roll of signatures appended to this pa- 
per, with the amount of the several subscriptions, is- 
here inserted, for the double purpose of perpetuating in 
full the record of a public-spirited act, and of exhibiting 
tlie names of the residents of Auburn in 1811, many of 
whom we have not yet mentioned. The roll is as- 
follows : 



William Bostwick, . 

Eobert Dill, 

Joseph Cole, 

Lyman Paine, 



400 

100 

40 

David Buck, 40 

Elijah E.-ty, 100 

David norner 240 

John H. Cnmpston, 40 

John C. Jeffries, 20 

Daniel Grant, 20 

JohnPatty,. 20 

Jacob Doremue, 20 

Henry Pace, 20 

John H. Beach, 20 

David Hyde, 40 

Eleazer and Horace Hills, 40 

Johns. Bart, 20 

Bradley Tuttle, 20 

Israel Reeve, 40 

Hackaliah Burt, 60 

Kobert L. Tracy, 40 



H. Hughes, aC 

J. L. Eicbardson, 40 

Rufas WeUs, Sa 

Caleb Woodworth, 20 

Edward Stevenson, 20 

Benj. Phelps, 20 

David Higgins, 40 

John Sawyer, 40 

Edward Allen, 20 

Abm. Carpenter, !()• 

Isaiah Goldingjf. 20 

William Benton, 2* 

Willis Lathrop 20 

Isaac Patchen, 2& 

Trowbridge AUen, 20 

Nathl. Garrow, 20 

Nathan Fish, 40 

Moses Lyon, 20i 

Reuben Cross, 20 

Zenas Hnggins, 40 

Abm. Drake, 20 



THE SETTLEMENT OF AUKELIUS. 



103 



German name, unintelligible, ... 20 

Job Shele, 20 

Samuel Bennett, 40 

William Gray, 20 

Adam Pries and George Peterson, 20 

Stephen Close, 20 

Jonathan Eussel, 40 

JohnDemaree. 20 

Henry Am^merman, 40 

Wm. W. Cock, 20 

George Hudson, 20 

Ephraim Lockhart, 20 

Noah Olmsted, 80 

Joseph Grover, 40 

Isaac Camp, 20 

Clark Camp, 20 

Asa Jackson, 20 

Jacob Bogart, 20 

Barth. Van Valkenburg, 20 

Stephen Moreland, 20 

James Simson, 20 

Peter Sedam, 20 

Jacob Van Middlesworth, 20 

Benjamin E. Yard, 40 

Wm. Laton, 20 

Philip Gardenier 20 

EWad Steel, 40 

Silas Hawley, 40 

And. Van Middlesworth, 20 

Jeremiah O'Callaghan, 20 

John Peabody, 40 

Samuel Crossett, 40 

Reuben Porter, 60 

Seth Burgess, Jr., 40 

Oliver Lynch, 20 

Daniel Miller, 20 

L. S. Lyon, 20 

Elihu Fitch, Jr., 20 

Abel Shepherd, 20 

Edward Wheeler, 20 



ThomasWrfght 20 

Luther Tibbies, 20 

Amos Brown, 20 

David Brinkerhoff, 40 

Nathan Tibbies, 20 

Thomas Jeffries, 20 

Christopher Jeffries, 20 

Harry White, 20 

Ezekiel Goodrich, 20 

D. Low, 20 

Friend Phelps, 60 

Ephraim Hammond, 20 

David Eastman, 20 

James Wilson, 20 

Moses Treat, 20 

Eben'r Higgins, Jr., 20 

Jehiel Clark, 120 

Daniel Eldredge, Jr., 20 

Henry Montgomery, 20 

John Stamp, 20 

Isaiah Davis, 20 

Zenas Goodrich, 20 

Elijah Miller, 40 

E. T. Throop, 40 

Moses Gilbert, 20 

Henry H. Muste, 20 

William Cock, 20 

Wm. J. WUcock, 20 

Zachariah Cox, 20 

Martin Remington, 20 

Ebenr. Healy, 20 

Thomas Morley, 20 

Eufiis Sheldon, 20 

Daniel Sennett, 20 

Dan'l Sheldon, 20 

Ebenezer Phelps, 20 

Daniel Curtice, 20 

Total, $4,110 



104: HI8T0KY OF AUBUKN. 

The " Auburn Scliool Association " was formed by 
a majority of the gentlemen above named, January 
5th, 1811. The object of the association was thus 
stated in its Constitution : " The subscribers, taking 
into consideration the necessity of literature to the 
welfare of society, that it affords nourishment to virtue, 
and the only means of rational and social happiness ; 
and having also considered that the present state of 
the population of the village of Auburn, and its vicinity, 
requires a literary institution, equal in magnitude to 
an ordinary academy, which, by its respectability, 
may hereafter induce an incorporation, have associated, 
and hereby do associate ourselves, for the purpose of 
forming such an institution, and have contributed, for 
that purpose, the sums annexed to our respective 
names." 

Land offered by Mr. Dill, to aid the institution, was 
accepted as a site for the school; and Hon. Elijah 
Miller, David Buck, Major Koah Olmsted, Hon. J. L. 
Richardson, John H. Cumpston, John Sawyer, Jehiel 
Clark, David Horner, and David Hyde were consti- 
tuted the first Board of Trustees, and invested with 
authority to call in the subscriptions and commence 
building. A deed for five and three-quarters acres of 
land was executed by Mr, Dill, January 31st, 1811, to 
a committee of trust, consisting of Rev. David Hig- 
gins, Elijah Esty, Thomas "Wright, William Bostwick, 
and Dr. Hackaliah Burt, the land to be held by them 



THE SETTLEMENT OF AUKELIUS. 105 

for the benefit of the School Association until it was in- 
corporated as an academy ; but it was stipulated that 
when the incorporation should be effected, the prop- 
erty was to be conveyed to the trustees of the new 
organization. The property was so subsequently trans- 
ferred, September 15th, 1817. The academy building 
was erected during 1811, by Messrs. Bradley Tuttle & 
Jehiel Clark, builders, under a contract with the trus- 
tees. It was finished and accepted, February 3d, 
1812, having then cost upwards of foar thousand dol- 
lars. Eobert Dill justly deserves the principal credit 
for the success of this work. He was the great patron 
of the institution, donating not only its site, and pay- 
ing a large subscription, but giving five hundred dol- 
lars beside. Among other laborers, however, David 
Horner was remarkable for his enthusiasm and high- 
minded perseverance in the cause in view, and was 
then, as in later years, one of its most valued supporters. 
The Auburn Academy, standing at the west end of 
the broad, well-shaded field that ran back nearly to 
the present State Street, was a plain, old-fashioned, 
three-story brick building, sixty feet long by twenty 
wide, surmounted by an open belfry. The walls out- 
side were penciled, the wood-work was white, and the 
shingled roof colored brown. The first two stories 
were divided into two rooms each, by a hall through 
the center ; the upper story formed one large room, 
into the sides of which seats were fastened, and the 



106 HISTORY OF AUBURN. 

floor of which was covered with long, double writing- 
desks, with benches on each side. The primary depart- 
ment was on the first floor. The various rooms were 
warmed by roaring wood-flres in the quaint old fire- 
places, the large room having one of these at each 
end. The writing-desks were furnished with tops cov- 
ered with loose sand, in which the youthful searchers 
after knowledge took their first writing-lessons. Dis- 
cipline was maintained with the ferule, and disorder 
punished either by shutting up the disobedient in a 
closet, in perfect darkness, or by subjecting them to 
solitary confinement in a deep hole left by the build- 
ers in the wall, next the fire-place. 

This was the first academy, a queer old building, 
with queer methods of instruction, but an institution 
of incalculable benefit to the rising generation of the 
period. The traditions concerning it are innumerable. 
None, perhaps, are so amusing as those relating to a cer- 
tain desperately maltreated ram, belonging to Dr. Cole, 
who lived on the corner, which the boys attending the 
school took great delight in tormenting. His ramship 
is said to have not only retaliated upon his tormentors, 
and caused many exciting scampers among the boys, 
but, upon one occasion, frightened the scholars in the 
primary department nearly out of their wits, by bat- 
tering a hole through the door, bounding into the room, 
and butting out the occupants right and left. All took 
to the top of the desks, where they were obliged to re- 



THE SETTLEMENT OF AUEELIUS, lOT 

main till some of the larger boys came in and cap- 
tured the ram, and carried him off. In 1816, the wind, 
entering a -broken window, carried coals from a fire- 
place out into one of the rooms, and the building was 
burned to the ground. It was rebuilt in 1823, on the 
same site. 

Among those who settled in Auburn in 1812 were 
Dr. Erastus D. Tuttle ; Abraham Gridley, who was at 
first a clerk in Dr. Burt's store ; John Oliphant, one of 
the most benevolent and useful men of the village ;; 
Teri Rogers, and Thadrach and Abel Terry. Thad- 
rach Terry established a wagon-maker's shop on the lot 
where Isaac S. Allen now lives. Abel Teriy, who was 
a blacksmith, went into business on the opposite side 
of Genesee Street, on a large lot about ten rods east of 
St. Peter's Church, building an house and shop thereon. 
Major Joseph Colt, Samuel and John Dill, and Daniel 
Elliott, the latter a carpenter and joiner, settled in 
1813. Ezekiel Williams, the tanner, an enterprising 
citizen, did the same in 1814, as well as Sylvanus 
Noble, the hatter, and George Casey, gentleman farmer. 
Mr. Casey proved to be an energetic and useful citi- 
zen. He located on the Clark farm, ISTorth Street.. 

Attention to the intellectual cravings of the people 
was manifested in 1812, at Auburn, by a meeting of 
prominent men, December 8th, at the tavern of 
Charles Reading, the Center House, for the purpose of 
forming an Auburn Literary Association, which should 



108 HISTOKY OF AUKUKN. 

■establisli a circulating library in the town. Forty 
pounds sterling was necessary to the attainment of 
this object, but tins sura was rapidly subscribed. An 
organization was therefore effected. John Sawyer 
was chosen President of the association, and Anselm 
H. Ilowland, David Brinkerhoff, and Eleazer Hills, 
Trustees, Mr. Ilowland was also first librarian. He 
kept the books in his hat-shop. The last librarian was 
Stephen Van Anden. Upon the dissolution of the asso- 
ciation, the books were mainly scattered around among 
its members, though some passed into the service of 
the common schools. 

The militia of the township of Aurelius, at the time 
when the injurious course pursued by England toward 
American commerce and American seamen had left 
no way open for the preservation of the national honor 
but by making war, and when, in consequence. Con- 
gress had authorized President Madison to raise 
twenty-five thousand men and put the army in readi- 
ness, was, as in the neighboring townships, in a state of 
very indifferent preparation. Pursuant to the laws of 
the State for the organization and arrangement of the 
militia, the able-bodied men of the township, of whom 
there was enough to form a regiment, were indeed 
enrolled, and placed under the command of Colonel 
John Harris, of Cayuga. They lacked, however, for 
the most part, not only arms and uniforms, but instruc- 
tion and discipline. Three times a year only were 



THE SETTLEMENT OF AURELIUS. 109 

they required to assemble for drill, and tliough over- 
flowing with patriotism, their inexperience was so 
great as to sometimes render their general trainings 
very ridiculous affairs. Three companies, however,, 
having their head-quarters at Auburn, were in tolera- 
bly good condition. 

One of these, a company of light-horse, independ- 
ent, appears to have been the first military organiza- 
tion that was formed in this village. It was raised in 
1804, by Captain Trowbridge Allen. Captain James 
Simpson was afterward its leader, and was succeeded 
by Captain Bradley Tuttle, who was in command at 
the time of the war. The company was handsomely 
uniformed with dark blue coats trimmed with red, buff 
vests and pants, cavalry boots, and crested head-pieces 
profusely ornamented with plumes and horse-hair. 
Being composed of fine men — minute men, by the 
way — it was deservedly popular. 

Captain Henry Ammerman commanded the in- 
fantry company, which belonged to the regular militia^ 
and was one of the most efficient corps in the regi- 
ment. The company was set off, in 1806, from that 
of Captan James "Wilson, of Brutus, with the follow- 
ing officers : Edward Stevenson, Captain ; Silas Haw- 
ley, Lieutenant, and John Walker, Ensign. Jacob 
Doremus succeeded Lieutenant Hawley, and Henry 
Ammerman afterward became Ensign, and was in 
time promoted to the Captaincy. 



110 HISTORY OF AUBURN. 

The third Auburn company M'as a battery of artil- 
lery, which had been organized originally under ^ 
Thomas Mumford, of Cayuga, and furnished with two 
brass six-pounders, to be used as field-pieces, but was 
now under the command of Captain John IT. Cump- 
ston and Lieutenant Hackaliah Burt. 

"War having been declared in June, 1812, and the 
Governors of the various States invited to muster their 
forces for the protection of their respective water- 
fronts, and for offensive operations, the Aurelius regi- 
ment was assembled upon the training-ground on the 
farm of Jesse Keed, near the openings, two miles west 
of Auburn, and volunteers were called for from the 
ranks and the line. Enough common soldiers re- 
sponded to form two companies at once, and officers 
sufficient to command a regiment. The services of all 
the latter were not accepted. The two companies 
were placed under Captains Henry Brinkerhoff, of what 
is now Owasco, and Daniel Eldridge, of Aurelius. 
After suitable preparation, they were forwarded to the 
army of the center, under General Stephen Yan Rens- 
selaer, then stationed near the JSTiagara, whither also 
Captain Cumpston was sent with his battery. The in- 
fantry companies were present at the demonstration 
made by the republican forces on Lewiston, and many 
of the men and officers, having volunteered to cross 
with Colonels Scott and Wool, were actively engaged 
in the fight. Among these were Captain Brinkerhoff 



THE SETTLEMENT OF AUKELIUS. Ill 

and Major ISToali Olmsted, tlie latter of whom, on one 
occasion, having ascended a stump to reconnoiter, was 
unceremoniously dismounted therefrom by its being 
shot away from under his feet by a British cannon-ball. 
The American troops met with the stroke of an un- 
lucky planet. Those remaining on the New York side 
were suddenly taken with " constitutional scruples 
about crossing the boundary," and their brethren in 
Canada were accordingly captured. 

Captain Cumpston arrived in camp too late to par- 
ticipate in the battle. He reported to General Yan 
Rensselaer as it was progressing, but was sent to take up 
a position in a piece of woods, where he remained till 
the aifair terminated. The battery, however, was en- 
gaged in several subsequent skirmishes, during one of 
which it lost one gun. After a short but honorable 
service of three months, it returned to Auburn, and 
was discharged. 

During 1813 and '11, the citizens of Auburn saw 
much of the " pomp and circumstance " of the war. 
The situation of the village upon the principal through 
turnpike of the State, leading over Cayuga Bridge, 
made it necessary for all large bodies of troops passing to 
and from the western frontier to march through its 
streets. The soldiers of Major-General Brown, of Col- 
onel Winiield Scott, and Generals Yan Rensselaer and 
Izard, called to Niagara, Sackett's Harbor, or Platts- 
burg, as invasion seemed imminent in either quarter, 



112 IIISTOHV OF AUBLRiS', 

repeatedly moved througli Auburn. Oftentimes they 
encamped or lunched here. The farms of Micajah Ben- 
edict and Eldad Steel, tlie latter of which is now owned 
by Charles P. Wood, were favorite places for this pur- 
pose. The passage of munition and artillery trains, of 
wagons carrying marines, and squads and companies of 
dragoons, was incessant. The constant punching of 
wheels and feet necessarily rendered the main thorough- 
fare of this village at times almost impassable for its mire. 
In a little gulley crossing the road just east of Exchange 
Street, there was a puddle upon which teamsters be- 
stowed anathemas without stint ; for the stalling of 
wagons and cannon here was so common an event that 
the inhabitants were obliged to keep beams and rails 
constantly by the side of the road to aid in the extrica- 
tion of the unlucky carriages. The same was true of 
other parts of Genesee Street. The continual travel 
multiplied taverns and lunch-houses indefinitely. 

The sudden capture and burning of Buffalo and 
Black Rock, in the winter of 1813, was the origin of a 
wide-spread panic in Western New York. Fugitives 
from the devastated villages brought the rumor down 
the road, that the British were marching into the inte- 
rior, to prepare the inhabitants for which couriers were 
sent off in all directions. The news came to Auburn 
in the evening, and, being reported on the street, threw 
the village into the wildest alarm. The nearness of the 
enemy none exactly knew, but in the confusion he was 



THE SETfLEMENT OF AURELIUS. 113 

believed to be close at liand. Major Olmsted, who 
was then at home, immediately ordered out the mili- 
tary companies, under Captains Tuttle and Ammer- 
man, with directions to march at break of day toward 
Canandaigua. 

John H, Beach, Enos T. Throop, and other citizens, 
meanwhile, hastened through the village, collecting 
arms and ammunition, and rousing such prominent citi- 
zens as had retired to rest, to share in the general pre- 
paration. The cavalry company, when formed, gal- 
loped westward at once. At sunrise the next morning, 
the people gathered on the top of the west hill of the vil- 
lage, to witness the departure of Captain Ammerman's 
command, the ranks of which were so swollen by new re_. 
cruits, as now to contain about two hundred men. Many 
of the most prominent citizens of the place were among 
the volunteers. The company marched with haste to 
Cayuga, where it was detained till the following day, ta 
allow the regiment to be organized. It took the road 
again next morning, thinking to meet the foe. The 
foe, however, was not to be found, so the ardent volun- 
teers were informed, when they had arrived within 
four miles of Canandaigua, by Colonel Colt, of Geneva, 
and John H. Beach, of Auburn, who had ridden ahead 
on horseback, to ascertain the true state of aifairs. The 
excursion of the Auburn troops ended, therefore, harm- 
lessly. 

There were, besides those mentioned, two companies 
6 



114 HISTORY OF AUBUKN. 

from Auburn that, did gallant service in the war of 
1812. One was a company of regulars raised by 
volunteering, which was quartered, during its stay in 
the village, in some M^ooden barracks erected on the 
north side of Genesee Street, near the present residence 
of Josiah P. Bailey. The recruiting officer used a 
spot of dry ground on the bank of the outlet, the 
same upon which Hugh Watson's brewery was after- 
ward built, for a parade ground. This company, being 
conducted to Sackett's Harbor, had the honor of tak- 
ing part in General Pike's famous expedition against 
York, Upper Canada, in April, 1813. During the de- 
barkation of the forces, several men in this command 
were shot, among whom was William Carpenter, of 
Aurelius. He was pierced with five balls. 

Captain John — more familiarly known as Jack — 
Richardson, led a company of rifles from this place to 
the Niagara frontier, in 1814. At this point, during 
July and August, there occurred some of the hardest 
fighting of the war. The rifle company appeared in 
•several actions, in all of which it behaved with notice- 
able bravery. It w^as also wath General Brown at the 
i;ime that the Americans were besieged in Port Erie, 
.and it covered itself with glory by its conduct in the 
sortie of the lYth of September. General Porter 
having been directed to destroy a certain advanced 
work of the enemy, consisting of a block-house and 
a couple of bastions, in which several batteries were 



THE SETTLEMENT OF AUEELIUS. 115 

posted, that were doing considerable damage to the 
fort, he took a detachment, including Captain Eichard- 
son's company, surprised the enemy, captured their 
works, with a thousand prisoners and immense stores, 
and returned in triumph. As the Americans were 
■charging toward the breastwork, at the beginning of 
the affray. Captain Richardson ran in advance of his 
men, and was fired upon by a whole platoon of the 
red-coats. The balls whistled all around him, but none 
touched his person. The principal exploit of the 
Auburn company was the rescue of General Porter, 
who was once surrounded by the enemy and captured. 
Lieutenant Silas Chatfield perceived the capture, and, 
leading a party of men with drawn daggers, he rushed 
into the midst of the action, and set the General free. 
Captain Richardson was afterwards promoted to the 
rank of Colonel. 

During the summer of 1814, the people of Auburn 
were once badly frightened. A large number of the 
male citizens were out upon the lines, and all, es- 
pecially the women, whose husbands or protectors were 
gone, were in painful anxiety respecting them, and 
resting under more or less of apprehension, that the 
British soldiery might yet invade the State from 
Canada. The twang of a trumpet was one day heard 
from the west lull. The persons who first heard it fied 
in consternation from that part of the town eastward, 
with the cry that the British were coming, doubting 



116 HISTORY OF AUBURN. 

not that ;the enemy was thus suddenly here to sack 
and burn the town. Without pausing for reflec- 
tion upon the absurdity of tlie idea, a number of oth- 
ers caught the alarm, and, rushing for their valuables, 
either barred themselves within doors, or i-an to the 
woods for safety. A few moments, however, revealed 
the fact that these twangs proceeded from the instru- 
ment of one Harry Burns, an Irish bugler, who had de- 
serted from the English ai-my, and was making hi& 
way on foot to Albany, with a permit from the military 
authorities at Buffalo. For, after sounding a few war- 
notes, he struck up a pleasant melody, trudged down 
the hill to Bostwick's tavern, and called for his dinner. 
The fright being over, the sell was acknowledged with 
some chagrin, and plenty of asseverations from by- 
standers that ihey hadn't believed the yarn, any of the 
time. Harry recounted his adventures in the evening 
to the curious crowd that assembled nightly at the tav- 
ern, and regaled them with melodies from his favorite 
bugle, lie remained in Auburn for several years. 

The Cayitga Patriot was established in Auburn in 
1814. It was the first competitor of the Western 
Federalist. Representing tlie views of the Demo- 
cratic party, w^hich was fast rising into importance in 
this State, and contained in its ranks some of the 
finest men of the countv and district„it was well re- 
ceived and supported. It was a dusky-looking little 
quarto of eight pages, and was printed in a shop on 



THE SETTLEMENT OF AUKELIDS. IIY 

Lumber Lane — an old street following an Indian trail, 
situated between what is now Mechanic Street and the 
creek. In this office the Hon. Thurlow "Weed set 
type for several months. These are tlie circumstan- 
ces, in his own words : 

" ISTor shall we ever forget the upper story of a 
wagon-maker's shop, where the Cayuga Patriot was 
first printed ; for there we worked, and laughed, and 
played away most of the winter of 1814. Samuel A. 
Brown, who published the Patriot^ was an honest, 
amiable, easy, slip-shod sort of a man, whose patient, 
good-natured wife was ' cut from the same piece.' Mr. 
Brown, the year before, had been established at Al- 
bany, with a paper called the Pepibhlican^wA^x the 
auspices of Governor Tompkins, Chief-Justice Spencer, 
and other distinguished Republicans, wdth'^whom Mr. 
Southwick, of the Register^ and then State^printer, had 
quarreled. The enterprise, like everything in our old 
friend Brown's hands, failed, and he next found him- 
self at Auburn, then a small village, without a side- 
walk or a pavement, and, savcj^Sackett's Harbor, the 
muddiest place we ever saw. Mr. and Mrs. Brown 
were originals, l^either of them, so far as we remem 
ber, ever lost temper or even fretted. The work in the 
office was always behind-hand, and the house always 
in confusion. The paper was never]out in season, and 
neither breakfast nor dinner were'ever ready. But it 
was all the same. Subscribers waitedj for the paper 



118 JIISTOKY OF AUBUKN. 

till it was printed, and we waited for our meals till 
they were cooked. The office was always full of loun- 
gers communicating or receiving news ; and but for 
an amateur type-setter, Kichard Oliphant. late editor 
of the Oswego County Whig, and brother of the editor 
of the Auhurn Journal, to whom we became much 
attached, and who, though a mere boy, used to do a 
full share of the work, the business would have fallen 
still further behind-hand." 

The establishment of one Democratic newspaper 
was followed by that of a second, called the Cayuga 
Tocsin I but there was no room for the latter, and it 
shortly afterward disappeared from circulation. 



ANNALS OF THE VILLAGE. 119 



CHAPTER III. 

ANNALS OF THE VILLAGE^. 
1815-1837. 

AtTBUEN, in 1815, was a plain, rather Dutchy-looking 
village, of two hundred buildings. Numerous well- 
traveled public roads had, by the enterprise of the 
founders of the village, been built to and through the 
place, constituting it a market for the surrounding 
towns. Its streets were full of activity, and emigrants 
were now flowing in so fast, that land-owning citizens 
were meditating and opening new streets to provide 
for the fresh demand for building lots. The roads 
still suffered from the wear of the war, but by means 
of the avails of lotteries, and subscriptions of work, 
they had been greatly improved, and many from mere 
bridle-paths had become respectable thoroughfares. 
They were all under the superintendence of the high- 
way commissioners of the township, who were author- 
ized to open all necessary lines of travel, and discon- 
tinue such as were useless, 

North Street, now straightened to coincide with the 
western boundaries of lots No, forty-seven and thirty- 
eight, whose crossing at the creek was still spanned by 
the old log bridge, was first laid out in 1791 ; South 



120 HISTORY OF AUBURN. 

Street, in 1795. West Genesee Street was laid out in 
1791, at which time East Genesee was also in use, though 
not legally erected till 1802. Owasco Street was sur- 
veyed in July, 1795 ; Market Street, under the name 
of Mill road, and Franklin, under the name of the new 
Genesee road, in 1797 ; and Clark Street about the same 
time. Division Street, and the highway running from 
the Goodrich tavern on North Street over the ledere of 
limestone rocks to Clarksville, were created in 1799. 
The latter is now broken up. The street since known 
as Seminary Avenue was opened in 1805. The one 
now termed Seminary Street, as well as that called 
Fulton, was made in 1806. In 1794, a road leaving 
E'orth Street within a few rods of the bridge ran down 
alono; the north bank of the outlet to Clarksville. It 
was the road to the salt springs. It crossed the site of 
the prison, and at that point ran under " the arched tree," 
as it was called, a large forest tree whose top had been 
bent down and become fixed in the ground, making an 
arch quite across the road. This highway, straightened, 
was legally erected September 15th, 1806. Chapel 
Street, surveyed March 19th, 1811, pursuing a direct 
course from l^orth Street along the edge of the Acad- 
emy grounds, intersected the last mentioned on the 
site of the prison. A short road between these two, a 
little east of what is now State Street, was also erected 
in 1811. The building of the prison altered the streets 
in this quarter very much. Mechanic Street, which 



ANNALS OF THE VILLAGE. 121 

finally superseded Lumber Lane, was originally " the 
road from Swift's mills to the village of Auburn." Its 
direction was not completely fixed till 1821. 

The village was already a promising place, with an in- 
dustrious population of one thousand souls, who found 
employment in the mills, in the business of clearing new 
lands, or in the shops, stores, and taverns that were 
plentifully sprinkled along the sides of Genesee Street. 
This was the principal business street, being the most 
traveled, in spite of its mud, and in the absence of 
side or cross walks. Thirty odd stores and shops, and 
no less than six taverns, displayed their various signs. 
There were but five brick buildings on the street. The 
huge chimneys of the village indicated the prevalence 
of fire-places, and the use of wood for fuel. The tav- 
erns, furnished as a class with commodious piazzas and 
large barns, were Demaree's, the Farmers' Inn, the 
Center House, Tracy's, the Western Exchange, and 
Pomeroy's. 

The position and character of the shops, according 
to the best authorities, were, beginning at the east hill, 
somewhat as follows : Chauncey Dibble's blacksmith- 
shop stood on what is now the west corner of John 
Street ; Demaree's cabinet-shop adjoined the tavern ; 
next west was the little post-office ; Seth Burgess' 
hat-shop occupied the corner of Seminary Avenue, 
west of which was a row of sheds belonging to the 
mill ; the store of George Leitch stood west of the 



122 HISTORY OF AUBUKN. 

sheds ; Hyde & Beach liad a story-and-a-half wooden 
store, just over the bridgje, wliere Doreinus once liad 9, 
tannery ; Ansehn T. Howland's hat-shop stood next ; 
on the east side of an old lane that ran down from 
the street toward the creek was posted Philip Garden- 
ier's ; next beyond which were Swift's two brick stores, 
built on the former site of an ashery, and succeeded 
in after times by the Cayuga County Bank ; then came 
Pace's printing-office, Russell's goldsmith-shop, John 
Oliphant's tailor-shop, all wooden, and, on the corner, 
Eleazer Hills' grocery store. 

Robert and John Patty's store and tannery occupied 
the west corner of Mechanic Street ; Jeffries' chair- 
shop, in which the famous Brigham Young once made 
chairs, stood where the brick block is now ; on the site 
of the Baptist Church was Silas Hawley's tannery ; 
two brick stores, built by Joseph Colt and Samuel 
Cumpston, stood about fifty feet east of South Street ; 
the old school-house stood on the opposite corner, and 
was used by Edward Stephenson for a hat-shop ; near 
Exchange Street was Cornelius Irving's saddler-shop, 
and, on the corner, the drug-store of Abraham Gridley 
and Dr. Ira H. Smith, which Avas sold, in 1816, to 
Archy Kasson. 

Horace Hills had a one-and-a-half story bricjk store 
on the west corner of North Street ; next was Henry 
Porter's ; Peter Hughes' yellow variety-store, Horace 
Hall's, Dr. Burt's two-story white residence, standing 



ANNALS OF THE VILLAGE. 12S 

back from the road, and his story-and-a-half green 
gtore, where the west end of the Beach block stands, fol- 
lowed ; the brown office of Ebenezer Hoskins, magis- 
trate, stood on the site of Groot's store, and the jewelry- 
shop of Samuel Graves and James Fitch, where C. A. 
Smith's is now ; from the vacant space between which 
and Hoskin's appeared above ground the sharp roof of 
an ice-house ; Bostwick's large Dutch barn came next ;. 
on the corner, where Briggs' is situated, was a frame- 
building, furnished with a pair of hay-scales, of that 
ancient style which grappled the four wheels of 
wagons, lifted them bodily into the air, and recorded 
their weight within the building ; IS^oble's shop stood 
on the west corner of Clark Street ; next was Eldad 
Steel's brick building, afterward a coifee-house j, 
Joseph Colt's two-story house was built on the site of 
the First National Bank ; where the double house,. 
Nos. 15Y and 159 Genesee Street, stands, was Abel 
Terry's old wagon-shop, sold in 1815 to Horace 
Hills, and afterward occupied by Horatio Hanks, the 
bell-founder, whose apprentice was the famous Andrew 
Meneely, of Troy ; Thomas Finn's tailor-shop was built 
where Jacob K. How afterward resided, No, 189 ; 
Miller's blacksmith-shop stood on lot No. 168, and 
Thadrack Terry's wagon-shop on the site of I. S. 
Allen's house, next above. 

Many of these shops were also used by their owners, 
for dwellings. In some, that were mainly residences,, 



124 HISTORY OF AUBURN. 

a meclianic frequently carried on some part of his trade, 
headed nails, for instance, or, as in the case of a house, 
1Y9 Genesee Street, where Mrs. Ivison now lives, per- 
formed carpenter work. In the cellar of the last-named 
was constructed the first large family carriage in Au- 
hurn. It was sold by Abel Terry to Governor Throop, 
Beyond the roomy, conspicuous house of Robert Dill, on 
the hill, there were, in 1815, no residences westward 
to Division Street, except those of ^Nathaniel Garrow 
and Eldad Steel. Between Genesee Street and the 
creek, the wilderness was unbroken. A thrifty orchard 
occupied the field between Bostwick's tavern and the 
court-house. 

The improvements upon ISTorth Street were Horace 
Hills' new frame house, now standing behind H. B. 
Perry's meat-market ; Dr. Joseph Cole's residence, on 
the north corner of Garden Street ; ]S'ehemiah Smith's, 
on the hill, and George Casey's beyond ; and, on the 
east side, Cumpston's store, the tanning establishment, 
and three or four small dwellings. In the region of 
Water Street was a large pasture, which was a famous 
ball-ground with the boys. 

South Street boasted few attractions. Peter Fields 
had a silversmith-shop near the corner, on the east side, 
Dr. A. M. Bennett resided on the south corner of 
Cumpston Street, and a few rods above was situated 
Oolonel John Richardson's cabinet-shop. Beyond, the 
road was surrounded with corn-fields and farms. The 



ANNALS OF THE VILLAGE. ISS 

other streets were eitlier very thinly or not at all set- 
tled. Clark and Genesee Streets ran into the forest 
about on the line of Washington Street. 

The great swamp through which State, Dill, and 
Water Streets were afterward run, was in the process 
of drying up. The inhabitants of the town had, not 
long before, taken a favorable opportunity, entered the 
swamp, and cut down and burned up all the thickets 
and trees that were growing there. Exposed to the 
sun and wind, the morass eventually became solid 
ground. 

Auburn was thus in 1815 a thriving settlement, not 
only located on the grand highways of travel and trade,, 
but well placed in the heart of a fertile and rapidly fill- 
ing country. Hundreds of acres of forest land were 
now being cleared up yearly and cultivated. The 
village itself possessed immense undeveloped resources^ 
and was at this time considerably ahead of all other 
large settlements in Western l!^ew York. Rochester 
was a mere handful of log-houses on the banks of the 
Genesee River. Syracuse was a farm, where Edward 
Patten, then residing at Onondaga Hill, went to buy 
cattle to stock his meat-market. Geneva and Canan- 
daigua were small, and, in point of growth, nearly sta- 
tionar3\ Auburn, on the contrary, though sorely in 
need of incorporation, for the sake of improving the 
streets and preventing fires, was prosperous and grow- 
insr. 



126 , HISTORY OF AUBUKN. 

The village of Auburn was legally incorporated by the 
Legislature, April 18th, 1815. John II. Beach, then 
Member of Assembly of this district, secured the pas- 
sage of an act, by the terras of which the freeholders 
and inhabitants of lot No. forty-seven, Aurelius, and the 
•eastern half of forty-six, were constituted a body cor- 
porate, with perpetual succession, and power to erect 
public buildings, procure fire-engines and utensils, 
regulate the streets and sidewalks, and to exercise all 
needful authority for the preservation of good order 
and the public health. The officers of the village were 
five trustees, three assessors, a clerk, a treasurer, and a 
•collector, who were, with the exception of the collector, 
to be elected on the first Monday in May of each year. 
The town of Auburn was erected March 28th, 1823, 
and on the 9th of March, 1836, additional powers were 
<ionferred upon the trustees, and the bounds of the vil- 
lage extended to those of the town. 

The first Board of Trustees of the village of Auburn 
was composed of Joseph Colt, the President, Enos T. 
Throop, Bradley Tuttle, Lyman Paine, and David 
Hyde, who met monthly, or as often as circumstances 
required, at the office of the President. The duty of 
putting the government into operation they discharged 
with great discretion. They proceeded first, to the 
rare satisfaction of the citizens, to provide some means 
for the adequate protection of property in the village 
against fire. They ordered that every owner of real 



ANNALS OF THE VILLAGE. 12T 

estate should provide each of his buildings, whether 
dwellings, stores, or mechanics' shops, with a ladder 
and with substantial leathern fire-buckets, the number 
of the latter in each building varying from one to five, 
according to the number of fire-places it contained ; 
the penalty for non-observance of this order being a 
fine of four dollars for every bucket that should be 
lacking. The villagers generally furnished their build- 
ings with the required implements. But the destruc- 
tion of the saw and carding mills of Samuel Dill, by 
fire, on the 21st of December, 1816, admonished the 
Trustees of the necessity for more positive protective 
measures. They therefore purchased a fire engine, 
and sent a teamster, by the name of Gershom Phelps, 
to the Hudson River to get it. Previous to this, there 
had been appointed, pursuant to the charter of the 
village, four fire-wardens, into whose hands had been 
committed the management of afi'airs at fires ; but 
that they, as well as many citizens, were inattentive 
to duty, seems apparent from the following 

NOTICE. 

" A fire-engine for the use of this village has been purchased in 
New York by the trustees. It is now at Newburg. A team has 
this day been sent for it, and it may be expected here in from 
eighteen to twenty days. On its arrival, the citizens of this vil- 
lage will be called upon to assemble with their fire-buckets, when 
all deficiencies of this article will be noticed. It is to be hoped 
that the late loss of Judge Dill's property by fire will show to the 
citizens of this village the necessity of being watchful and pre- 



12S IHSTOIiY OF AUBUfi.V. 

pared to arrest the destructive progress of this devouring element, 
should it break out within our bounds; and not again, when an 
alarm of fire is given in our streets, and by the bells, to remain at 
their ease or their labors, (particularly the fire-wardens), saying, 
we can do no good. We know not how much good we may do, 
or evil prevent, until we arrive at the place of danger. — Dex:. 23, 
1816." 

The engine arrived in January, and was placed in a 
little engine-house on Market Street, where Lamey's 
tannery now stands, and was intrusted to the care of 
a company of about twenty of the substantial men of 
the village, of which Archy Kasson was foreman^ 
Robert Muir was elected foreman in 1820 ; Richard 
Steel, in 1825 ; and Asa Munger, in 1828. The ordi- 
nances in relation to the conduct of affairs at a fire 
were, that the president of the village, wearing a white 
belt, a badge on his cap, and bearing a trumpet, should 
have the general management ; the trustees, with 
white belts and canes, were to form ranks for carrying 
water ; the fire-wardens, distinguished by white belts, 
were to bring fire-hooks, ladders, etc., to aid in con- 
trolling the fire, and to gather up all buckets and 
utensils tliat should be left on hand after the danger 
was over ; while the firemen, wearing leathern hats, 
were to work the engine " with all their skill and 
power." 

The trustees turned their attention next to the 
subject of improving the streets, and in the fall of 
1816 issued their first order for laying sidewalks. They 



AKNALS OF THE VILLAGE. ' 129 

directed the construction of brick or plank walks, 
eight feet in width, on both sides of Genesee Street, on 
the west side of jSTorth Street, and on the north side 
of Center Street, Four feet in width was the orig- 
inal choice of the Trustees, but Enos T. Throop was 
in favor of ample walks, and, strenuously opposing that 
choice, he persuaded the Trustees to adopt the greater 
breadth. The principal streets were then, from time 
to time, scraped, repaired, and graded, and the walks 
extended, to the inexpressible satisfaction of every 
dweller in the village. 

After the erection of the town of Auburn, the 
streets underwent a further change. The hill at the 
corners of North and South Streets was lowered by 
successive excavations nearly twelve feet, and the road 
near the adjacent bridges raised about eight feet, by 
means of earth taken from the cuttings. This im- 
provement laid bare the cellars of the stores of Horace 
Hills, Colt & Cumpston, Dr. Richard Steel, and 
others, at the top of the hill, which were thereafter oc- 
cupied as first floors ; and, on the other hand, buried 
the first stories of several buildings near the bridges, 
which thus became cellars. In grading Genesee and 
South Streets, several gullies containing little water- 
courses were filled up, and the streams made to flow 
through drains. These, with a variety of other im- 
provements hereinafter mentioned, were efiected about 
the year 1827. 
7 



130 HISTORY OF AUBURN. 

The proposition to erect, in some one of the villages 
of Western New York, a new prison, had been under 
the consideration of the Legislature for several years, 
and the necessity for such an institution being strongly 
urged by the prison autliorities of the State, the resolu- 
tion had been taken to build it. In the matter of its 
location, which was for a time an open question, 
Auburn felt the deepest interest. It was desirable that 
an institution so well calculated to confer importance 
and prosperity on any place should be built here. The 
claims of Cayuga County were presented in the Legis- 
lature by John H. Beach, then our Member of Assem- 
bly, who was undoubtedly the leading spirit in the 
lower house in 1816. The government of the State 
was then in the hands of the Democratic party, for 
which Cayuga County, though once strongly Federal, 
had risen to give one of the largest majorities of any 
county in the State. Suffolk and Orange, it is be- 
lieved, alone exceeded it. "When the question of locat- 
ing the prison was agitated, therefore. Auburn came 
favorably into view, and on the 12th of April, 1816, 
three of om* citizens, Hon. Elijah Miller, James Glover, 
land Hon. John H. Beach, were authorized by law to 
tuild that institution here. Citizens of Auburn had 
atrreed to donate a site. Two such were proffered : 
one, by George Casey, situated on the southern bounds 
of his farm, near the stone quarry, where the founda- 
tions might have been laid upon the solid rock, and 



AIOfALS OF THE VILLAGE. 131 

another, by Samuel Dill, David Hyde, John H. Beach, 

and Ebenezer S. Beach, on the bank of the outlet, at a 
point where, by constructing a dam across the stream, 
a valuable water-power was obtainable. The latter 
site was accepted by the commissionei-s, on account of 
the water-power, and a deed was received for the same 
on the 22d of June. Six acres and twenty perches 
were conveyed to the State, with sufficient land for a 
six-rods-wide road on three sides of the lot, and the 
privilege of building a dam, and using half the water- 
power. The grant of land for a road enabled the com- 
missioners to shift Garden Street to the north. Plans 
for the prison buildings having been prepared by J. O. 
Daniels, Esq., Architect, and approved by the Justice 
of the Court of Chancery, William Brittin, a compe- 
tent master-builder, was employed to carry them out. 
The contractor for the masonry work was Isaac Lytle, 
of New York, who brought with him to Auburn as 
foreman, Halph De Camp, now living in Am*elius. 

Foundations for the stone in closure were put under 
way immediately ; the excavations for the foundation 
of the south wall of which laid bare, it is said, an In- 
dian grave-yard, large quantities of human bones be- 
ing exhumed by the workmen, as well as fragments of 
pottery and Indian utensils. The south-east corner- 
stone of the wall was laid June 28th, by Mr. De Camp, 
who inclosed therein a bottle of whiskey. The corner- 
stone of the main buildings was laid by David Mills 



132 HISTOKY OF AUBUKN. 

and Henry Eoberts. Twenty thousand dollars were 
expended the first season on the work, which employed 
not only every builder in Auburn not otherwise en- 
gaged, but large numbers from abroad. The erection 
and inclosure of the main building, and the carrying 
up of the outside wall to the height of four feet, were 
the results of 1816. Mr. Ly tie then found it necessary 
to bring on to Auburn a stock of grocery supplies for 
his men, and to have a business office near the prison. 
He met this necessity, in 1817, by building the three- 
story tavern on the north corner of Chapel and State 
Streets, called the Prison Hotel, which stood there till 
Sunday, August 20th, 1828, when it was burned down. 
In this he kept a store-house and office, renting the 
rest of the building to Captain Allen Worden for a 
tavern, whose business, with that of the Hixon House, 
also built in 1817, by Thomas Hixon, on the site of 
the Auburn Hotel, arose at first in no little degree 
from the operations of the prison. 

By the winter of 1817, the south wing was in readi- 
ness for the reception of criminals, of whom fifty-three 
were then received from the jails of adjacent counties, 
to aid the work of construction. Eighty-seven more 
were received in 1818, for the same purpose. Author- 
ity for the employment of convict labor in building 
the prison was conferred on the State commissioners 
in April, 1817, both to relieve the crowded jails, and 
to save the wages of free workmen. The practice was, 



AKSALS OF THE VILLAGE. 133 

however, a source of annoyance from the start. The 
criminals, having unrestrained intercourse with the 
workmen and mechanics, notwithstanding the presence 
■of the guards, infected them with sympathy for the 
punishment and privations the former were enduring, 
and led to the most turbulent and riotous actions on 
the jpart of both. An incident of the spring of 1821 
exhibits the extent of the evil alluded to. It having 
become necessary to punish three disobedient convicts 
by whipping, and the keepers refusing to perform the 
repulsive task, a blacksmith by the name of Thompson 
was, one Saturday eve, called in to do the work. He 
whipped the men, was paid for the job, and then left 
the prison for his home in the village. As he passed 
through the prison gate, he was seized by a furious 
crowd of laborers, tarred from head to foot, and borne 
through the streets astride a rail. The ring-leader of 
the mob, with a hen under his arm, walked by the side 
of the unfortunate Tliompson, and plucking handfuls 
of feathers from the screaming fowl, stuck them to the 
blacksmith's tarry coat. This shocking affair was con- 
dignly punished as a riot. On the other hand, the 
convicts, stimulated by this outside sympathy, learned 
to be rebellious, transgressed the rules of the shops at 
every opportunity, and set fire to the buildings, and 
destroyed their work, whenever they dared. Fearful 
insurrections in other prisons were not then uncommon ; 
and the citizens of Auburn were, at this stage of the 



134 HISTORY OF AUBURN. 

case, oppressed with the fear that they might be called 
on to encounter an irruption of criminals into the 
town. This sense of insecurity among the citizens re- 
sulted in the organization of the prison guard, after- 
ward known as the Auburn guard, in 1820, under 
Captain Joseph Colt, which was ^rmed and equipped 
by the State, and provided with an armory in the 
upper story of the stone building built upon and within 
the front wall of the prison, in the northern part, to 
which entrance was had from the street by means of 
a staircase. The efficient conduct of this corps in 
times of danger, and especially dming the burning of 
the north wing of the prison, in November, 1820, when 
it was called upon to march the convicts to their cells 
at the point of the bayonet ; and increased discipline 
in the prison itself, soon removed every apprehension 
in Auburn of the convicts' breaking out and making a 
descent on the village. The malice of the prisoners 
led to another precautionary measure. This was the 
formation, the same year as the above, of a fire com- 
pany among the citizens, attached to the prison. The 
engine which this company used was purchased by 
the State, and was kept in the lower story of the prison 
armory, a door, since walled up, being then opened 
through the outside wall to enable citizens to use the 
machine, whenever necessary to suppress fires in the 
villao;e. Samuel C. Dunham was foreman of this 
company for a year or two, when Truman J. McMas- 



ANNAIiS OF THE VILLAGE. 135 

ter was elected to the post, and occupied the same till 
1836. 

In April, 1818, the State commissioners on construc- 
tion transferred the government of the prison to a 
Board of Inspectors, appointed by the Legislature, con- 
sisting of Hon. Elijah Miller, Hon. John H. Beach, 
James Glover, Archy Kasson, and George Casey. 
"William Brittin was by this Board appointed the first 
agent and keeper of the prison. 

The prison went rapidly forward till 1823, when the 
massive main hall and wings, and extensive wooden 
work-shops for the coopers, blacksmiths, spinners, and 
shoemakers, severally, and an inclosing sitone wall 
twenty feet high, had been completed at a cost of four 
hundred thousand dollars. The cooper-shop was then 
situated near the south wall, and the south gate was 
extensively used. " Copper John," made in Auburn by 
John J). Cray, surmounted the pinnacle of the central 
building. The north wing, which had been fashioned 
to effect the solitary and silent confinement of the 
prisoners, upon the plan devised by that excellent man, 
Mr. Brittin, then contained one hundred and eighty- 
five cells only. These cells were seven feet long, the 
same high, three and a half feet wide, and were sep- 
arated by walls of solid masonry one foot thick ; they 
were each provided with a ventilator, and secured by 
strong, iron-bound wooden doors, with grated openings. 
They were arranged in a block five stories high — ac- 



136 HISTORY OF AUBUKN. 

cess to the different stories l)eing had by stairs and 
galleries running along the face and sides of the block 
— standing within an inclosing bnilding, which it 
touched only at the roof. An area ten feet wide lay 
thus between the cells and outer walls, the patrols 
posted on which were enabled to detect the slightest 
movements of the prisoners, and foil all their attempts 
to escape, or to communicate with each other. The 
south wing was not, in 1823, much used. It contained 
a large number of rooms, holding from two to twenty 
men each, but, upon the completion of the north wing, 
the men were all taken out and subjected to solitary 
confinement in that wing, and the other fell into dis- 
use, and w^as subsequently rebuilt on the new plan. 

The first prison dam and raceway were built in 
181Y, the prison, as authorized by the terms of its 
deed, using half the power gained by the fall. The 
Hon. Gershom Powers, agent of the prison, having pur- 
chased, in 1829, the premises upon the opposite side of 
the outlet, situated between Water and Prison Streets, 
of John W. Hubbard, as empowered by law, erected 
immediately thereafter the second prison dam, which 
was durably constructed of stone, by convicts working 
under the eye of the vigilant prison-guards. The 
State gained the whole power of the dam by its pur- 
chase. It leased the surplus power of the dam, how- 
ever, for many years, and at length parted with its prop- 
erty south of the stream to purchasers in the village. 



ANNALS OF THE VILLAGE. 13T 

An enlargement of the prison grounds was made 
necessary in 1834, by the growth of the institution. 
In May of that year, the title to twelve acres and a 
fraction of the land lying between Factory, now Wall 
Street, and the outlet, west of the prison buildings, 
was acquired by the State by purchase of John B. 
Dill ; an area of five hundred feet square was soon 
after inclosed and shops built upon it. The erection 
of the south wall involved the shifting southward of 
the bed of the creek and Barber's dam, which was sat- 
isfactorily done at the expense of the State. Further 
improvements and erections were added to the prison 
from time to time, but a full description of the same is 
reserved for another title. 

The advantages accruing to the village of Auburn, 
from the location therein of the prison of Western New 
Tork, and from the expenditure of the moneys neces- 
sary in its erection, were neither few nor unimportant. 
On the contrary, the dignity and importance of Au- 
burn among the villages of the State were immeasure- 
ably enhanced ; the place rose into general notice, and 
by th6 development of its quarries, water-power, and 
resources, its citizens acquired wealth and prosperity, 
and the population steadily advanced in numbers, not- 
withstanding certain losses hereafter referred to, till in 
only ten years from the founding of the prison it had 
fully trebled in amount. Many, indeed, were the 
travelers from New England, seafaring men retiring 



138 HISTORY OF AUBURN. 

from a perilous life on the wave, printers, editors, 
builders, and lawyers, searching Western New York 
for a place to spend their remaining days and make 
their fame and fortune ; and many were the emigrants 
bound for the western wilds, who, struck with the 
majesty of the great State institution at Aubm'n, and 
the imposing array of new blocks, seminaries, and 
dwellings then being built in this village in conse- 
quence of the erection of the prison, were led to ex- 
amine the resources and character of the place and its 
prospects, and, charmed with what they saw and heard 
here, to make it their home. Many, too, were they, 
who, brought to Auburn to aid in tlie erection of the 
prison, to improve the town, and build its mills and 
manufactories, remained in the place, and joined its 
population, and helped bring it to that state of pros- 
perity for which it was so remarkable at the time of 
which we speak. Money was plenty, and the popula- 
tion generally was pervaded with vigor and cheerful- 
ness. 

Yet, it is true that the presence of the prison in Au- 
burn was attended at first with disadvantages, and 
even with damage. The constant apprehension of the 
citizens, not only of this but of other places, that felons 
and females discharged from the prison would remain 
in the village, to the corruption of society, and inse- 
curity of property, deterred many from selecting Au- 
burn for a place of residence. But the erection of 



ANNALS OF THE VILLAGE. 130 

shops in the prison, and the employment therein ot the 
convicts at custom work, was a still more unfortunate 
circumstance. A competition between convict labor 
and that of the resident mechanics and tradesmen in 
the village ensued. The coopers, tailors, shoemakers, 
and cabinet makers, were all oppressed by the conse- 
quent decline of prices, and large numbers of them 
were compelled to withdraw from Auburn, or to go 
into other avocations. As a class, the tradesmen were 
injured by the introduction of convict labor to Au- 
burn ; as a class, they therefore opposed it, and all 
who favored it. This village lost, by this removal of 
mechanics to other places, a number of good citizens, 
and suffered disagreeably from the internal commotion 
caused by the injurious complaints of those that re- 
mained, against all attempts of the prison authorities 
to make convict labor productive. Business and the 
trades, however, nmltiplied so fast in the rising vil- 
lage, that the working classes were, in a very few 
years, enabled to adjust themselves to the situation, 
and earn a competent support. The trouble then 
ceased. 

One enterprise in a new place infallibly begets 
others ; and scarcely was the prison in Auburn nnder 
way, when the leading business men of the town began 
to agitate the question of the establishment of a Bank 
here, a measure which had been rendered necessary by 
the heavy disbursements of money by the State com- 



140 HISTORY OF AUBUKN. 

missioners, and the demand by citizens for the use of 
capital to develop the resources of the town. 

The proposition originated with the Hon. John H. 
Beach, who, with Joseph Colt, Eleazer Hills, Daniel 
Kellogg, Hon. Enos T. Throop, iSTathaniel Garrow, 
and Hon. Glen Cuyler, and associates, made applica- 
tion to the Legislature of 1817 for a charter for the 
proposed Auburn Bank. No regular Banks of deposit 
and issue were in operation at this time nearer than 
those at Canandaigua and Utica ; although prominent 
merchants, both in Auburn and the surrounding villa- 
ges, were in many cases depositories of funds, and bank- 
ers for their customers and friends. The necessity for 
a Bank in Auburn was apparent. Such an institution, 
by the style of the Auburn Bank, was therefore char- 
tered. May 31st, 1817, with a capital of $400,000, the 
shares being fixed at fifty dollars each ; and Squire 
Minor, Samuel D. Lockwood, N. GaiTow, Glen Cuyler, 
and James Porter were authorized to receive subscrip- 
tions to the same at Coe's tavern. The books were 
closed on the 26th of May. It had been the wish of 
Ml'. Beach to secure the advantages of the Bank to 
himself and associates, who, being reliable and re- 
spected business men, were as much entitled to them 
as any. But no monopoly of the stock of the Bank 
was permitted ; the business men of the town sub- 
scribed liberally, and, when the books were closed, it 
was discovered that twenty-one thousand eight hun- 



AIINALS OF THE VILLAGE. 141 

dred and three shares had been taken, the majority of 
it being subscribed by the competitors of Mr. Beach, 
who thus controlled the Bank, and, notwithstanding, 
his activity in securing the charter, left him out of the 
management. The Bank was organized in July, 1817, 
by the election of directors, viz : Thomas Mumford, 
President ; Nathaniel Garrow, Archy Kasson, Joseph 
Colt, Horace Hills, Walter Weed, George F. Leitch, 
Hon. Enos T. Throop, David Brinkerhoff, James 
Porter, John Bowman, Hezekiah Goodwin, and Wil- 
liam McCarthy. James S. Seymour, who was here 
soon afterward on a visit from the east, was elected 
Cashier. Mr. Beach was indignant at the unmerited 
treatment he had received at the hands of the stock- 
holders, and he soon put the Bank in such awe of him^ 
that the opposition was forced to compromise, admit 
him to the Board of Directors, and, in 1820, elect 
Daniel Kellogg to the Presidency. 

The patrons of the bank were impatient to have it 
commence operations. Mr. Seymour, therefore, hav- 
ing accepted the trust tendered him, procured a safe, 
opened his office in the Western Exchange, and used all 
possible activity in signing the Bank's first issue of bills, 
and in making preparations for business. A room was 
fitted up in Demaree's tavern for a banking office. 
The shavings and rubbish were scarce swept from the 
floor, when the door was opened the first time for busi- 
ness, and customers rushed in to get their first dis- 



142 HISTORY OF AUBURN. 

<}Ount. The corporation erected the brick banking 
liouse in which it has ever since transacted business, in 
what was then William Bostwick's flower-garden, tlie 
following year. The noble elm on the walk in front 
of the bank was planted by Mr. Seymour. In 1849, 
Corydon H. Merriman was elected Cashier, and Mr. 
Seymour, President, and both still hold the same posi- 
tions with great abilit}'^ and honor. 

Prominent citizens, deeming that another bank was 
■demanded by the business interest of Auburn, made 
application, in 1825, to the Legislature for a charter fo:r 
s, corporation, to be known as " The Cayuga County 
Bank." The request of the petitioners was not granted, 
however, till 1833. At the latter date, the charter was 
passed by the Legislature, who authorized Nathaniel 
Oarrow, Hon. Rowland Day, Hon. Peter Yawger, 
Hon. George B. Throop, John Seymour, Hon. William 
H. ]S'oble, Robert Muir, Charles Pardee, and Sherman 
Bradley to receive subscriptions to the stock of the 
Bank. The subscription books were opened at Coe's 
tavern, in April, 1833. Such was the confidence of 
the public in the project, that subscriptions were in 
three days received to the amount of a million and a 
quarter dollars. The authorized capital, however, was 
no more than two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. 
The stock was distributed pro rata among the subscrib- 
ers, who thereupon organized by electing their first 
Board of Dii-ectors. The members of the Board were 



ANNALS OF THE VILLAGE. 143 

Isaac S. Miller, E. Hills, Levi Lewis, Stephen Yan 
Anden, K. Garrow, Rowland Day, Peter Yawger, Geo. 
B. Throop, John Seymour, Wm. H. JSToble, Eobert 
Mnir, Charles Pardee, and Sherman Beardsley. The 
officers were Mr. Garrow, President ; Mr. Throop, 
Cashier ; and Lewellyn Jones, Teller. Josiah N. Starin, 
who had been Teller since 1835, was chosen Cashier in 
1841. John Beardsley was elected President in 1840. 
He was succeeded by Nelson Beardsley in 1843. The 
banking-house of the Company was durably constructed 
of cut stone, in 1833 and '34, by Colonel Charles W. 
Pomeroy, builder. Business opened in this place. 

After the incorporation of the village, the new vigor 
that pervaded every department of action, led to the 
organization of religious societies, and enabled them 
to erect houses of worship. 

The Trustees of the Presbyterian Society, who were 
then John H. Cumpston, William Brown, Silas Haw- 
ley, Reuben Porter, Henry Ammerman, Moses Gilbert, 
Bradley Tuttle, David Horner, and Eleazer Hills, re- 
ceived the donation of a church lot, situated at the corner 
of Franklin and llTorth Streets, from the heirs of Colonel 
Hardenburgh, May 31st, 1814. Upon this they laid the 
foundation of a meeting-house, in 1815. The finished 
building was consecrated to the service of God, March 
12th, 1817. It was a model of taste, and cost nearly 
seventeen thousand dollars. About sixteen thousand 
dollars was realized by the first sale of pews. The 



144 HISTORY OF AUBUKN. 

first elders of the society were John Ohphant and 
Silas Hawley. Its pastors were as follows : Rev. 
Hezekiah IST. Woodruff, from April 16th, 1813, to Au- 
gust, 1816 ; Rev. Dirck C. Lansing, from November, 
1816, to June, 1829 — was also stated supply in 1842-3 ; 
Rev. Josiah Hopkins, from September, 1830, to April, 
1846 ; Rev. Henry A. ]S"elson, from July, 1846, to 1856 ; 
Rev. Charles Hawley, from November 5th, 1857, to the 
present. 

The Theological Seminary was a daring enterprise 
of 1819. Its necessity and annals are found under 
another title. 

The Methodists of Auburn, having become suffi- 
ciently numerous to warrant their organization, formed 
a society, April 28th, 1819, and built a snug wooden 
chapel on Chapel Street, in 1821. They remained in 
this, building over twelve years. Longing for addi- 
tional church room, two prominent members of the 
congregation, John Seymour and Tallmadge Cherry, 
built a stone church on the south corner of "Water 
and North Streets, at their own expense, in 1832. It 
was dedicated February 6th, 1833, and sold to the 
society the following year. The consecration sei'vice 
was conducted by Rev. John Dempster, Rev. Dr. Bart- 
lett, of Aurora, and Rev, M. M. Willett, of "Weedsport. 

The stone church was, however, after having been 
put in thorough repair, and just completely paid for, 
destroyed by fire, in April, 186Y. With wonderful 



ANNALS OF TUE VILLAGE. 145 

vitality, the congregation were raising money and 
planning the work of re-building before the ruins 
ceased to smoke. A lot costing ten thousand dollars, 
at the west corner of South and Exchange Streets, was 
immediately purchased. A magnificent brick church 
was erected with unparalleled vigor and enterprise. 
The dedication took place January 7th, 1869. To 
the Kev. William Searles, the pastor, the success of 
this work is mainly due. 

The Roman Catholics of this place organized their 
first religious society, August 3d, 1820. It was called 
the Fourth Roman Catholic Church of the Western 
District of New York. The original Trustees were 
Hugh Ward, John Cqnner, James Ilickson, Thomas 
Hickson, and David Lawler. After holding services for 
several years in the court-house, or in the little red school 
house on the academy green, the congregation, which 
was not strong, bought the abandoned chapel of the 
Methodists, and dedicated it to the uses of their religion, 
in the manner prescribed by their ancient ritual. This 
took place October 23d, 1834. The ceremony was per- 
formed by the Rev. Dr. Power, Yicar-General, assist- 
ed by Rev. F. O'Donoghue, resident pastor. Rev. 
Thomas OTlaherty was the first permanent pastor. He 
remained here from September, 1845, to 1856, and was 
succeeded by Rev. M. Kavanaugh, Rev. Michael Cree- 
don, and Rev. James McGlew. Mr. O 'Flaherty re- 
turned in May, 1864. The new and costly church of this 



146 HISTORY OF AUBUKN. 

flock was built in 1860. It is the Church of the Holy 
Family. 

The Baptists became a distinct congregation, Feb- 
ruary 17, 1819, at which time delegates from the four 
Baptist churches of Aurelius, Mentz, Brutus, and 
Owasco, met here in council, and organized the new 
church. The four country churches alluded to were 
founded by Elder David Irish, while these towns were 
yet a wilderness. Elder Irish preached the fii'st Protest- 
ant sermon in Cayuga County, at Scipio, in 1794. The 
new congregation began modestly by meeting for wor- 
ship in public buildings. Their brick church, at the 
junction of South and Exchange Streets, was built in 
1825. It was consecrated February 15th, 1826. The 
stone church on Genesee Street was built in 1834. 
The pastors of this church were : Elder C. P. Wyckoff, 
jfrom June, 1820, to 1830; Rev. John Blain, from 
1830 to 1833 ; Eev. I. M. Graves, from 1833 to 1835 ; 
Elder T. S. Parr, from 1835 to 1839; Eev. James 
Johnson, from 1839 to 1841 ; Elder A. Pinney, from 
1841 to 1843, Elder J. S. Backus, from 1843 to 1850 ; 
Eev. W. P. Pattison, from 1850 to 1855 ; Eev. A. M. 
Hopper, from March 1st, 1857, to July, 1860. Eev. 
P. P. Bishop took charge of the church iA February, 
1861. 

The Universalists organized in the school-house on 
;the academy green, April 12th, 1821. They held 
j)ublic worship in] the court-house, inTthe academy, 



ANNALS OF THE VILLAGE. 147 

and various other public places, till 1834, when thej 
succeeded the Baptists in the possession of the brick 
church on South Street. They had previously re- 
organized, April 24th, 1833. The present Universal- 
ist Church was erected in 1847. The pastors of the 
denomination were as follows : Rev. Orestes A. Brown- 
son ; Rev. George "W. Montgomery, from 1834 to 1844 ; 
Eev. H. L, Hayward, 1844-5 ; Rev. J. M. Austin, 
from 1845 to 1850 ; Rev. W. R. G. Mellen, from 1851 
to 1855 ; Rev. D. C. Livermore, 1856-7 ; Rev. Day K. 
Lee, from 1858 to 1865 ; Rev. R. Fisk, September 1st, 
1865. 

The Cayuga Bible Society was formed February 
'23d, 1815, at a large public meeting at the court- 
house. The Rev. H. 'N. "Woodruff was chosen Presi- 
dent of the Society ; William Brown was chosen Yice- 
President ; Rev. Seth Smith, Secretary ; Horace Hills, * 
Treasurer ; and for Directors, Rev. Royal Phelps, Rev. 
Levi Parsons, Rev. Henry Ford, Rev. Benjamin Rice, 
and Captain Joseph Rhodes. The American Bible 
Society was organized in I^ew York, May 11, 1816, 
by delegates from the societies in the State ; Cayuga 
being represented by the Rev. Henry Ford. 

The Auxiliary Bible Society of Cayuga County was 
formed June 12, 1817, at the court-house. Article 
second of its constitution states that " the object of 
the Society is the gratuitous distribution of the sacred 
Scriptures, without note or comment, in the versions 



148 HISTORY OF AUBURN. 

commonly used by Protestants, among the poor of the 
county, and elsewhere, as its funds will admit." The 
officers were Walter "Wood, President ; Thomas Mum- 
ford, Hon. Elijah Miller, Rev. Seth Smith, and James 
Glover, Yice-Presidents ; Rev. D. C. Lansing, Corre- 
sponding Secretary ; George W. Warner, Recording 
Secretary ; and Horace Hills, Treasurer. 

The Second Presbyterian Society of Auburn was 
organized December 11th, 1828, by members of the 
parent church. The Trustees were Horace Hills, 
Abijah Fitch, Ebenezer Hoskins, Henry Tift, Jabez 
Pease, William Brown, and Bradley Tuttle. The 
building committee consisted of John Porter, John 
Patty, Asa Munger, and Walter Weed. Plans for 
the church were prepared by John I. Hagaman, a 
leading architect and master-builder of the town. 
* The corner-stone was laid June 17th, 1829, by Drs. 
Mills and Richards, of the Seminary ; and the church 
was tinished and dedicated August 9th, 1830. The 
first elders of the society were William Brown, Abijah 
Fitch, John I. Hagaman, Horace Hills, Truman J. 
McMaster, George C. Skinner, and Henry Tift. The 
Rev. Daniel C. Axtell was ordained and in- 
stalled pastor of the new congregation November 10th, 
1830. The subsequent pastors were : Rev. L. E. 
Lathrop, D.D., from November, 1836, to 1851 ; Rev. 
E. D. Morris, from May, 1852, to November, 1855 ; 
Rev. Ezra A. Huntington, D.D., 1855 to 1858 ; Rev. 



ANNAXS OF THE VILLAGE. 149 

Henry Fowler, September, 1858, to 1861 ; Eev S. W. 
Boardman, in June, 1862. 

The Gothic church, built by the Episcopalians in 
1811, and subsequently enlarged and furnished with a 
new organ and bell, was, in 1832, a few weeks after the 
completion of the improvements, consumed by fire. 
The church was framed with unusually heavy timbers, 
which produced an intense heat, and burned for a long 
time before they fell By this means, the bell, sus- 
pended in the midst of the flames, was melted as it 
hung, and dropped in among the ruins. The cooled 
metal was found in strange shapes in the ashes of the 
tower. A fragment of this was secured by Joshua Burt, 
a member of the congregation, who caused it to be 
made up into three little hand-bells, of beautiful shape 
and tone, which are yet preserved as mementos. 

The corner-stone of the stone church was laid Au- 
gust 10th, 1832. The new edifice was dedicated 
August 8th, 1833. The rectors of the church from the 
beginning were as follows : Rev. Davenport Phelps, 
missionary, 1803; Rev. William A. Clark, 1812; 
Rev. D. McDonald, from Decerhber, 1813, to February, 
1817; Rev. William H. Northrop, 1817-18 ; Rev. Lucius 
Smith, from 1819 to 1823 ; Rev. Samuel Sitgreave, from 
1824 to 1826 ; Rev. J. C. Rudd, D.D., from December, 
1826, to 1833 ; Rev. WilHam Lucas, from September, 
1833, to August, 1839 ; Rev. Charles W. Hackley, D.D., 
from l^ovember, 1839, to April, 1840 ; Rev. William 



150 HISTOKY OF AUBURN. 

Cresswell, D.D., from ISttO to 1844 ; Eev. Samuel H. 
Coxe, from 1844 to 1846 ; Eev. Walter Ayrault, from 
1847 to 1852 ; Eev. E. H. Cressy, D.D.,from 1853 to 
1859 ; Bev. Charles H. Piatt, from 1860 to 1861 ; Eev. 
J. W. Pierson, from 1861 to March, 1863 ; Eev. John 
Brainard, November 1st, 1863. 

The establishment of the first Sunday-schools in 
Auburn is a matter of honorable record. The first 
school was organized for the benefit of negroes, at the 
suggestion of Dr. Eichard Steel, an apothecary from 
Troy, who had settled herein 1817. Dr. Steel had had 
two years' experience in a school for colored people in 
Troy, and perceiving the necessity for such an enter- 
prise here, he communicated his views on the subject 
to the Eev. Dr. Lansing, and to a deacon of his con- 
gregation, the ever-ready Henry Ammerman. While 
both coincided with him as to the desirableness of a 
Sabbath-school for negro children, and even for aged 
negroes, they encountered such ridicule and secret op- 
position in the town by proposing it, that for a long time 
they found no one who would brave public opinion, and 
begin the work. Dr. Lansing, not daunted by ridicule, 
however, delivered, one day in 1818, an eloquent dis- 
course at the First Church on the subject of Sabbath- 
schools, pleading earnestly for volunteers in the sacred 
cause. Mr. Ammerman, Dr. Steel, and Koble D. 
Strong arose from their places in the meeting and ten- 
dered their services. They agreed to begin the move- 



AJSTNALS OF THE VILLAGE. 151 

ment. Notwithstanding the derision and sneers of re- 
spected friends, they went manfully to work. In the 
humble log hut of Albert Hagerman, the former slave 
of William Bostwick, on the north bank of the outlet, 
west of Korth Street, Deacon Ammerman and Dr. 
Steel opened the first Sabbath-school in Aubm-n, a 
school for the blacks, which proved successful, and was 
a blessing to many. 

The following year, the popular sentiment in the 
village changed. The wind blew the other way. All 
were alive to the importance of Sabbath-schools. One 
for the children of the whites w^as started in the long 
room of the Central tavern. Good judges looked up 
the families of the poor and supplied them with clothes, 
that they might attend. Teachers flocked forward, 
their occupation being now no longer regarded as a 
violation of the day of rest. The Sunday-school of 
St. Peter's Church was opened in 1821, by Dr. Burt 
and Wilham Bostwick. 

On the 6th day of February, 1817, the archives of 
the Cayuga County Medical Society were removed 
from Aurora to Auburn, where they have since re- 
mained, and where, with very few exceptions, the sub- 
sequent meetings of the society have been held. The 
society was then eleven years old, it having been or- 
ganized in Aurora, on the Tth of August, 1806, by 
Drs. Joseph Cole, William C. Bennett, Silas Hol- 
brook, Frederick Delano, Barnabas Smith, Consider 



152 HISTORY OF AUBURN. 

King, and about twenty-five others, and held its pre- 
vious meetings in Ledjard and Scipio. Drs. Delano, 
McClung, and Smith had been, and Dr. King was 
President, when the removal took place. By this date, 
Drs. Erastus D. Tuttle, Ira H. Smith, and Joseph T. 
Pitney had joined it. With Dr. Cole, they were in- 
fluential enough to bring the library, archives, etc., 
here. At a meeting of the society, held at the inn of 
Canfield Coe, on that da}^, Drs. Joseph Clary and 
Campbell Waldo, of Throopsville, which, up to this 
time, had been expecting to be the principal village 
of the county, were admitted as members. The ad- 
mission fee was fixed at* five dollars ; diplomas, the 
same. Drs. Cole, Pitney, and Smith were appointed 
a committee to consider and report upon the propriety 
of establishing a medical school in Auburn. — See Med- 
ical College^ 1824. 

At a meeting of the society at Coe's tavern, Maj 
6th, 1819, a petition to the inspectors of the Auburn 
prison, asking for the bodies of deceased convicts ^or 
dissection, was signed. At the same time, the societj 
resolved to have members report at subsequent meet- 
ings their most important cases in physic and surgery. 
Dr. Frederick Delano was this year chosen President. 
On the 6th of January, 1820, Dr. Tuttle was made a 
delegate to attend the next meeting of the State Medi- 
cal Society, with instructions to ask its co-operation in 
the efibrt to get a medical college here ; and the sum 



ANNALS OF THE \TXLAGE. 153 

of fifty dollars was appropriated to pay his expenses. 
A new set of by-laws was adopted May 4th. Dr. 
Cole became President N^ovember 2d. The society at 
this time was taking various medical publications, and 
hearing dissertations from one or more of its members 
at its quarterly meetings, which have continued, with 
an interval between 1847 and 1864, up to the present 
time. It allowed members to draw books from th« 
library, and take them home to read. 

Dr. Cole was succeeded as President by Drs. Delano, 
King, Aspinwall, Hurd, Waldo, Smith, Pitney, Fitch, 
Eldredge, Clary, Doty, Dodge, Willard, Palmer, Gill- 
more, Pearl, and Baker. The act of 1844, authoriz- 
ing anybody to collect pay for medical services, so far 
disgusted most of the members of this society, that on 
the 3d of June, 1847, they sold their library, and on 
the 1st of June, 1848, after listening to an address from 
Dr. Palmer, adjourned sine die. 

After an interval of seventeen years, the society was 
resuscitated by an infusion of new life into its member- 
ship. On the 31st of August, 1864, Drs. David L. 
Dodge, Hofiman, Charles E. Yan Anden, James D. 
Button, Charles A. Hyde, Alex. Thompson, Richard- 
son, Clark, Gillmore, Force, Lansing Briggs, David 
Dimon, Edward Hall, B. Fosgate, and T. S. Brinker- 
hoff, met at the American Hotel in this city, re-organ- 
ized, and re-invested the society with all its former 
vigor and usefulness. On the first of June, 1865, the 



164 IIISTOKY OF AUBUKN, 

society adopted a new schedule of prices, on the report 
of their committee, who said, " that inasmuch as there 
has been no change in the fees for over twenty-five 
years, and as during that time the value of all that 
pertains to daily life as well as to the profession has 
more than doubled, they advise the adoption of the 
proposed bill, which increases the former rates about 
fifty per cent." At the meeting held June 6th, 1866, 
Dr. T. S. Brinkerhoff was chosen Secretary, to succeed 
Dr. Elanchard Fosgate, who had held the position for 
twenty-two consecutive years. 

The month of July, 1817, is recollected for a singular 
and unprecedented disturbance in the waters of the 
Owasco Outlet. Without apparent cause, the stream 
one day suddenly became turbid, the water turned 
green, and the fish died in immense numbers, and were 
carried down its rapid current, floating on the sm-- 
face for a week. The bridges and banks were thronged 
with people, who came to see this marvelous sight. 
Various were the conjectures as to the source of the phe- 
nomenon, but to the present day it remains a mystery. 
It was asserted by the wise in such matters that the 
intense heat and stillness of the atmosphere, for it was 
the halcyon days, caused a poisonous scum to form on 
the surface of the lake, which, blown by the south wind, 
was driven into the outlet, and created the whole disturb- 
ance. But as this was the only stream thus affected, the 
explanation was not generally received as satisfactory. 



ANNALS OF THE VILLAGE. 155> 

The enlightened efforts of the "State Society for 
the Promotion of the Useful Arts," to encourage scien- 
tific agriculture in l^ew York, was productive, in and 
about 1818, of the organization of numerous county- 
agricultural societies. The " Agricultural Association 
of Cayuga County " was formed on the 4th day of 
February of that year, at the house of Amos Adams,, 
in Scipio, by a large meeting of farmers, who elected 
David Thomas, President ; Silas Holbrook, Vice-Presi- 
dent ; John Tift, Treasurer ; and Joshua Baldwin, Re- 
cording Secretary. The society listened to its first an- 
nual address from President Thomas, September Yth. 

The first Cayuga County cattle-show and fair opened 
in Auburn on the 20th of October, and lasted two 
days. It was an occasion of great interest. The bells 
at sunrise rang for half an hour. The cattle offered 
for premiums or sale were placed in pens prepared for 
the purpose, on the farm of William Bostwick, south 
of the court-house. Articles of domestic manufac- 
ture, and produce, were exhibited in the store of Henry 
Porter. In the forenoon of the second day, a proces- 
sion was formed in front of the court-house, under Na- 
thaniel Garrow, the sheriff. Captain Elam Lynds and 
Captain Henry Porter, marshals, in the line of which 
was a plow, drawn by two yoke of oxen, and held by 
Comfort Tyler, of Seneca Falls, the first person who 
broke ground with a plow in this State west of the 
county of Oneida. Marching to the Presbyterian 



156 HISTORY OF AUBURN. 

Church, the procession, after prayers and hymns, was 
addressed by David Thomas. Prizes were then 
awarded. These were twenty-five in number, and 
consisted of seventeen silver cups, and eight sets of 
silver tea-spoons, valued in the aggregate at two hun- 
dred and thirty-one dollars. 

Soon after the fair, the society received large acces- 
sions to its ranks, and became a large and prosperous 
organization. The second fair, held in the fall of 
1819, at Samuel Cumpston's store, was attended by 
an enthusiastic gathering from every quarter of the 
county. These fairs were held annually for fifteen or 
twenty years, at about which time the society dis- 
solved. 

The Columbian Garden, on the site of the present 
Columbian block, was opened in 1820, with an amphi- 
theater for circus performances, a ten-pin alley, a stage 
and galleries for the drama, and arrangements for fire- 
works and music. It was a place of popular resort at 
all times. The first that can be learned of it is that it 
was kept by one Eiley, and afterward by William 
Buttre, the father of the famous engraver. It was 
finally kept by Harlow C. Witherell, of Anti-Masonic 
notoriety. It was discontinued in 1836, and demol- 
ished by Kobert Cook and Thompson Maxwell, to 
make way for the Columbian buildings. The upper 
story of the new block was constructed for the 
purpose of a theater, and for many years so used. 



ANNALS OF THE VILLAGE. 15T 

When this Garden was abandoned, Monsieur Jacob 
Leonard and Charles Bemis opened the Auburn 
GardeUj in the rear of a restaurant now occupied by 
Solomon N". Chappel. 

Journalism in Auburn kept pace with the growing 
wants of the times. In June of 1816, the Western 
Federalist passed into the hands of Thomas M. Skin- 
ner, an enterprising young printer from Connecticut, 
and his partner, William Crosby ; and the paper, then 
conducted with great ability, was issued under the 
style of the Auburn Gazette. It was a iine weekly, 
devoted to the policy of DeWitt Clinton. In 1819, its 
name was changed to the Republica/n. In 1824, the 
Iiej)ubliGan, as well as the CoAjuga Patriot, the latter 
edited by the Hon. Ulysses F. Doubleday, the father 
of General Abner Doubleday, of Fort Sumter fame, re- 
ceived a competition in the form of the Free Press, 
a weekly sheet, issued by Richard Oliphant from an 
office on the west corner of South and Genesee Streets. 
The new journal was the largest west of Albany at 
the time of its first issue, having five large columns to 
the page. May 31st, 1826, it was enlarged one column, 
and July 22d, 1829, it passed into the hands of a 
brother of the former editor, Henry Oliphant. It was 
an organ of Republican principles, supported John 
Quincy Adams, in 1828, and Henry Clay, in 1832, and 
was the antagonist of the Patriot, on the opposite cor- 
ner, which was thoroughly Democratic, and withal the 



158 HISTORY OF AUBUKN. 

mouth-piece of the leading politicians in Auburn. 
The sanctum of the editor of the latter paper was, in 
fact, the penetralia of Democracy. In that spot, 
nightly, did the officers of the village and the prison, 
and their friends, congregate to discuss politics and 
arrange the plans of the party in the county. In 
May, 1833, the I^ree Press and the Rejpublican were 
united, and published from the east corner of Genese^ 
and Hotel Streets, by Oliphant & Skinner, under the 
title of the Auburn Journal. It was always a brisk, 
acceptable paper. The Republican., while in existence, 
was also an able journal. Its editor in 1825, G. A. 
•Gamage, Esq., was one of the most brilliant writers 
€ver connected with the press of Auburn . The Cojyuga 
Patriot was conducted, in 1830, by Mr. Doubleday 
and Isaac S. Allen ; in September, 1831, it passed into 
the hands of Mr. Allen, who, in January, 1831, asso- 
ciated Willet Lounsbury as editor with himself, and 
carried on the paper till 1813. The proprietors then 
again became Doubleday & Allen. 

The Cayuga Democrat was started in 1833, by Fredf 
€rick Prince ; it was withdrawn from circulation in 
1835. The earliest of the many ephemeral publica- 
tions of the village was a sheet styled the CastigatoVy 
by Captain Caleb Cudgel & Co., printed in 1820, by 
James M. Miller, in an office next east of the store of 
<jreorge F. Leitch. 

During the period we have just been considering, 



AKNALS OF THE VILLAGE. 159 

valuable improvements had taken place on the Owasco 
Outlet ; several extensive mills and three new dams 
had been erected, and others rebuilt and enlarged. 

The foundations of the Auburn cotton-mill were 
laid at the lower falls in the year 1814, by Hon. Elijah 
Miller and Hon. John H. Beach, in a lot on the bluff, 
bought by them of Samuel Dill on the 12th of Sep- 
tember. A dam was built in the stream, and the estab- 
lishment was put into operation in 181Y, The Auburn 
Manufacturing Company, of which Alvah Warden 
was President, and Robert Wiltsie was Secretary, pur- 
chased the mill in 1822, and began the manufacture 
of a superior cotton ticking, that held for years the 
first rank in American markets. The Company sold the 
property. May 1st, 1827, to ISTathaniel Garrow, George 
B. Throop, and Robert Muir, who soon after admitted 
Eleazer Hills to partnership, and ran the mill with flat- 
tering success for several years. Becoming involved, 
however, in the financial troubles of later times, they 
were obliged to part with the property to George F. 
Leitch. After various exchanges of title, and occa- 
sional stoppages of business, the title to the mill ves- 
ted, in April, 1845, in Benjamin "W. Bonney. This gen- 
tleman sold to Robert JS"esbit, of whom, on a master's 
sale, Corydon H. Merriman subsequently purchased. 
The latter sold to the Auburn Bank, May 1st, 1853, 
and that corporation transferred the mill, the same day, 
to Lorenzo W. Nye, who still retains the ownership. 



160 HISTORY OF AUBURN, 

Cotton sheeting and cotton bags liave since been manu- 
factured here, with great profit and success. 

The Auburn Paper Mill was built on the south 
bank of the outlet, below the lower falls, by Thomas 
M. Skinner, George C. Skinner, and Ebenezer Hos- 
kins, associated as Skinners & Hoskins, during the 
working seasons of 1828 and 1829, for the purpose 
of supplying the extraordinary demand at this time in 
Western ISTew York for paper of every description. 
A perpetual lease of the mill site was purchased of 
the owners of the cotton-mill property, who agreed to 
erect and maintain in repair for the new manufactory, 
a dam of sufficient height to turn a water-wheel eight- 
een feet in diameter. The manufacture of paper be- 
gan under the personal supervision of George C. Skin- 
ner. An excellent article was produced, which sold 
extensively in all the western counties of the State. 
The stringent times of 183Y, however, embarrassed the 
paper-makers exceedingly, and they were glad to relin- 
quish their lease and the mill, in 1839, to other parties. 
The Cayuga County Bank received the title to the pro- 
perty of the mill, October Yth, 1840 ; the Bank sub-let 
the mill, in 1841 and 1842, to Lorenzo "W. 'Nje and 
Charles Eldred, and, subsequently, to David Foot, 
David S. West, Henry Ivision, Jr., and Chauncey 
Markham. 

Mr. West purchased, in 1847, the old red machine- 
fihop and property, on the opposite side of the outlet, 



ANNAI.S OF THE VILLAGE. 161 

and, in 184S, the title to 'tlie lands occupied bj the 
paper mill, subject to the perpetual lease. Consolidat- 
ing with the lessees of the mill, he then organized, on 
the 2d day of July, 1849, the Auburn Paper Company, 
the first trustees of which were David S. West, Lorenzo 
W. ^^% David Foote, John C. Ivison, Henry Ivison, 
Jr., Aurelius Wheeler, Asahel Cooley, and Russel Chap- 
pel. The capital of the company w^s $20,000. Mr. 
Wheeler was elected president. Major Sylvanus H. 
Henry was, in 1853, elected manager of the works, and 
William H. Barnes, superintendent of the manufacture. 
The capital of the company was increased, in 1854, to 
$50,000, the shareholders then being Josiah K, Starin, 
Alonzo G. Beardsley, N". C. Miller, Lorenzo W. ISTye, 
S. H. Henry, J. Ives Parsons, Noah P. Clark, I^. D. 
Oarhart, and William H. Barnes. Mr. Nye was elected 
president in 1861 ; E. H. Avery, in 1862 ; and J. N. 
Starin, in 1864. The mill was destroyed by fire in 
January, 1868, and the property was sold the following 
season to George Casey, who now contemplates the 
speedy erection of tool-works thereon. 

These two mills were for thirty years the most im- 
portant of the manufacturing institutions of Auburn, 
and were, when erected, justly viewed with pride, 
both by their proprietors and the citizens of the town. 
The march of improvement, meanwhile, was visible 
all along the outlet. William Hayden had put into 

operation, in 1815, his new clothier w^orks, in the old 
9 



162 HISTORY OF AUBURN. 

fulling mill of Jeliiel Clark. In 1817, a fine new grist 
mill had been built bj Latlian Garlick, on the east 
side of the outlet, at the foot of a deep gully that 
gashes the bluff at the then southern bounds of the 
village, which was driven by power accumulated at 
the twelve-feet dam built opposite. A commodious 
stone mill had been erected by John H. Hardenburgh, 
on the site of the old frame mill, and the wooden dam 
replaced by a new one of stone, five rods below. A 
stone machine-shop had also been erected near the old 
dam, in which Asaph D. Leonard and Alvah Warden, 
then the proprietors of the mill, began, in 1829, the 
manufacture of burr mill-stones. The old red fulling 
mill, at the south end of the Hardenburgh dam, had 
been, about the same time, repaired, re-painted, and 
moved across the stream to a position in rear of the 
.stone mill, where it still remains. It then contained 
two fulling mills, four single carding machines, ai 
picker, a napping and a shearing machine, and was 
owned by Colonel Levi Lewis. A steam grist mill 
had been built, in 1831, by Walter Weed, in his 
brick building on the eastern corner of Genesee and 
Owasco Streets. Four boilers were necessary to drive 
the mill-stones, of which there were two runs ; the 
mill produced between seventy-five and an hun- 
dred barrels of flour daily. A cotton-spinning shop 
had also been built, near the southern end of the 
prison dam; this building, with Abraham Smolk's 



ANNALS OF THE VILLAGE. 163 

carpenter- shop, near by, was burned to the ground in 
1829. 

The original Auburn market was estabhshed in 
1820, upon the west side of I^orth-Street bridge, over 
the outlet, the site of which was purchased by the cor- 
poration, of Samuel Dill, September 7th, 1819. Ed- 
ward Patten, of Onondaga Hill, opened in this build- 
ing the first regular meat-market in the village. In 
1836, the old structure, then occupied by Edward and 
John E. Patten and James Lysk, was shattered and 
partly carried away by a freshet. It was demolished 
by the authorities. 

On the lirst of June, 1825, the good people of An-' 
burn were gratified by a visit from General La Payette, 
whom they received to the enjoyriient of their simple 
hospitalities, in as pleasant a manner as the short time 
allowed them for preparation would permit. Informa- 
tion was conveyed to the committee of arrangements the 
preceding day, that the venerable soldier was approach- 
ing the county. Handbills were immediately issued, 
and nineteen guns fired to give notice to the people of 
the distant towns. La Fayette was proudly escorted 
from Cayuga to Auburn by the committee in car- 
riages, a corps of cavalry under Captain Cox, and a 
body of ofiicers on horseback. He rode with Judge 
Throop in a barouche drawn by six magnificent 
chestnut horses, that had been furnished unsolicited by- 
Messrs. Sherwood & Son, proprietors of the telegraph 



164 HISTOKY OF AUBUKN. 

line of stages. Evergreen arches were erected to the 
welcome and lienor of the illustrious Frenchman, on 
the rising ground a few rods west of Washington Street, 
that point being the western bounds of the village. 
As the procession arrived and ascended this hill, it was 
joyfully greeted by the cheers of a large number of 
military companies, iree-masons, and Revolutioners, 
that had been arranged on either side of the road by 
General Brinkerhoff, Chief Marshal of the day, and 
Colonels LeA^as and Gridley, his assistants ; and as 
the carriages passed the arch, a battery posted on Fort 
Hill fired a salute of twenty-four guns. The bells of 
the callage struck up a merry peal, and the populace, 
who had assembled to the number of nearly eight 
thousand, surrounded the escort with the most enthusi- 
astic hurrahs. " If here, at an immense distance from 
the sea-board," says an eye-witness, " and in the center 
of a country not yet reclaimed from the wilderness 
when La Fayette's sword flashed before his enemies, as 
commander of the then northern department, we could 
not greet him with the splendor and pageantry lavished 
upon his movements in our populous cities, we could 
at least present him with the homage of grateful hearts, 
and the salutations of eager hands, pointing in every 
direction to fertility and luxuriance, the wonderful 
effect of his romantic toils in the cause of liberty and 
human rights." 

Reaching the Western Exchange, La Fayette recog- 



AJSTJSTALS OF THE VILLAGE. 165 

uized ill the crowd before him the wrinkled face of 
an old comrade, the aged Major Van Yalkenburg. 
Rushing up the tavern steps, the enthusiastic French- 
man, to the great amusement of the people near bj, 
caught the old veteran in his arms, and gave him a 
hearty kiss. Colonel John W. Hulbert, eminent for 
his abilities as a lawyer, and as M. A. from this dis- 
trict, then addressed the General, in behalf of the citi- 
zens, with words of welcome. The reply was graceful 
and unaffected. It is to be regretted that it was not 
preserved. After a multitude of introductions from 
the eager crowd, the committee retired with the Gen- 
eral and a number of prominent gentlemen, to a bower 
in the pleasant field behind the tavern, where they 
were entertained with a sumptuous dinner. Patriotic 
sentiments were toasted frequently during the repast, 
each being saluted with a discharge of cannon. La 
Fayette was pleased to oifer : " Cayuga County, and 
Auburn town — May their Republican industry and 
prosperity more and more give a splendid lie to the 
enemies of liberty, equality, and self-government." 
The General's son, George Washington La Fayette, 
gave : " A Sovereign whose power is felt only when it 
is wanted, — the People." Toasts were also offered by 
General La Fayette's suite, and by Hon. Wm. H. 
Seward, Colonel Hulbert, Hon. Gershom Powers, 
Major E. L. Smith, and others. 

After the dinner, all attended a brilliant bp-U at the 



166 HISTOllY OF AUBURN. 

assembly-room in Brown's tavern, wliicli was filled 
with the beauty and grace of Auburn. At eleven 
o'clock, the General entered his carriage, and set out 
for Syracuse, followed by the acclamations of the citi- 
zens, and their prayers for his continued happiness. 

The tour of the heroic friend of Washington seems 
to have aroused the patriotism and revolutionary recol- 
lections of the wdiole American people. Fourth of 
July, 1825, memorable for the foundation of the Bun- 
ker Hill monument, wdiich La Fayette attended, was 
everywhere observed wath unusual pride and pomp. 
In Auburn, tlu-ee different processions paraded the 
streets, and the crowd was tremendous. Every can- 
non, and bell, and band of music in the village was 
employed to contribute to the general enthusiasm. 
The aged veteran. Major John Dill, read the Declara- 
tion ; Hon. "VYm. H. Seward, H. II. Ranney, and 
others, delivered addresses ; and dinner and fireworks 
were prepared, and bore a prominent part in the day's 
festivity. 

In the winter of 1824, Dr. Erastus D. Tuttle, for 
nine years the physician and surgeon of the State 
prison, a gentleman of considerable eminence in his 
profession, undertook to establish on private account, 
in Auburn, a school for the education of young men 
in medical science, in the hope of obtaining a charter 
for it from the Legislature. He began by purchasing 
the lot next west of the Auburn Bank, and erecting 



ANNALS OF THE VILLAGE. 167 

upon it the two-story building still standing there. He 
finished off the upper part for a lecture-room, lighted 
from above, and the lower part for a study and office. 
His official position gave him facilities for obtaining 
human subjects for dissection and anatomical prepara- 
tion. In that building, assisted by Professor Douglass, 
of Philadelphia, he lectured to a class of about a dozen 
students, the ensuing fall and winter. On the 21st of 
January, 1825, at a public meeting at the "Western Ex- 
change, Dr. Tuttle acquainted the people with his 
views on the subject of a medical college. These 
views were cordially approved. Drs. Tuttle and Ira 
H. Smith, and George B. Throop, "William H. Seward, 
and Horace Hills were accordingly appointed to memo- 
rialize the Legislature on the subject, and obtain a char- 
ter. In February, it was announced that a course of 
lectures on anatomy, chemistry, and materia medica, 
would be begun at once by Dr. E. D. Tuttle, Dr. James 
Douglass, Dr. Jedediah Smith, and Dr. Ira H. Smith. 
These lectures were delivered to a class of from fifteen 
to twenty students. Dr. Thomas N. Caulkins acting as 
demonstrator, and were continued at various dates till 
1829, when for a short time attention was withdrawn 
from the enterprise by the death of Dr. Tuttle. 

Dr. John George Morgan, the successor of Dr. Tut- 
tle as physician of the prison, associated with himself 
Dr. Thomas Spencer, of Manlius, Onondaga County, 
and employing Dr. Frank H. Hamilton, of Auburn, as 



168 HISTORY OF ADBUKN. 

demonstrator, re-commenced the lectures and the col- 
lege in a wooden building on North Street, standing 
on the site now occupied by Drake's restaurant. The 
project, however, was dropped soon after and never 
since revived. The creation of the medical depart- 
ment of Hobart College defeated the application from 
Auburn for a charter. While these lectures were re- 
puted to be able and very instructive, and not sur- 
passed at that day by any delivered in any medical 
college in the State, and while the geographical posi- 
tion of Auburn seemed to indicate it as the most 
eligible point in Central IS^ew York for such an insti- 
tution, the failure to obtain a charter so abated all in- 
terest in the matter that it soon died out, and the pro- 
ject was forgotten. 

The first Auburn Band was organized at Brown's 
tavern, — known also as Brown's Coffee-house — in 
December, 1825, at a meeting of citizens, who con- 
tributed liberally to the purchase of musical instru- 
ments. 

A religious newspaper, entitled the Gospel Mes- 
senger^ was started in Auburn in 1826, by Rev. John 
C. Rudd, D.D., the distinguished rector of St. Peter's 
Church. The paper was published weekly from an 
office in the south-west corner of the church-yard, 
which had previously been used for a Lancastrian 
school. It was perfectly catholic to all sects, and de- 
voted to the cause of the gospel and female education. 



ANNALS OF THE VILLAGE. 169 

Dr. Eudd, who had had twenty years' experience 
as an instructor, was enabled to make many valuable 
suggestions upon the interesting topic of female schools, 
which in after years bore rich fruit. The Gospel Mes- 
senger was in time transferred to Geneva, and afterward 
to Utica. The printing-office was demolished. Its 
site is now occupied by a stately magnolia. 

In the month of February, 1828, a society was 
formed in Auburn for the purpose of promoting a due 
observance of the Sabbath, under the auspices of, and 
auxiliary to, a general union of clergymen and business 
men, associated for the same purpose, in the city of 
J^ew York. Similar societies were formed that year 
in every part of the State, whose manner of promot- 
ing a fit observance of the day of rest was, to require 
their members to withdraw their support from all lines 
of conveyance by land or water that ran on that day. 
They strove further to advance observance of the 
Sabbath, by lending their aid to a new line of stages, 
then just started, called the " pioneer," that ran on 
six days of the week only ; and by raising by subscrip- 
tion large sums of money, to indemnify the proprietors 
of the new line against loss by competition. The 
societies openly avowed the design of breaking down 
all lines of conveyance that ran on Sunday. It was 
even intimated that a Christian party in politics was 
to be organized under their auspices. Believing that 
the real purposes of these societies were mercenary, 



170 UI8T0KY OF AUBUKN. 

the people of Cayuga County met on the court-house 
green, in Auburn, August 28th, 1828, and passed 
resolutions expressive of their great indignation at 
this unwarrantable interference of ministers of the 
gospel in secular affairs. A thousand people were 
present. Henry Polhemus was chairman of the 
meeting ; Barnabus Smith, of Scipio, was secretary. 
Archibald Green, William II. Seward, and Dr. Camp- 
bell Waldo, w^ere appointed to give publicity to the 
proceedings, and such a powerful rebuke was adminis- 
tered to the societies, that they soon thereafter relin- 
quished their efforts. 

The Bank Coffee-house was opened when the pio- 
neer line of stilges came through, in «Eldad Steel's 
brick building, opposite the Auburn Bank, by Thomp- 
son Maxwell. The office of the telegraph line of 
stages w^as kept there in 1828, but was removed, in 
1830, to a handsome new hotel, known as the Ameri- 
can, erected by Messrs. Isaac & John M. Sherwood, 
proprietors of the line, on the site of the old Willard 
tavern. This house, built originally with two large 
piazzas on both the southern and eastern fronts, was 
opened on 'New Year's day, 1830, with a sumptuous 
dinner spread by Thomas Noyes, of Kochester, the 
lessee. The old tavern was moved to the northern 
side of Clark Street, near Green, where it still stands. 

The miserable militia system in force in this State 
at the time of the war of 1812, and long afterward, 



ANNALS OF THE VILLAGE. 171 

having fallen into popular disesteera, measures were 
taken to induce the Legislature to revise all the laws 
on the subject, and to adopt others more effective 
and equal in their operations. But the Legislature 
paid no attention to the popular voice on this subject ; 
and, in Cayuga County, a volunteer militia regiment 
of artillery was organized, to express the disapproval 
of the people in. a stronger light. 

Five companies were raised for the new command : 
one in Auburn, by Captain William H. Seward and 
Lieutenant Lyman Ilinman, and the others in Lo(;ke, 
Genoa, Scipio, and Brutus. The regiment was or- 
ganized in 1 829, as the 33d artillery, with the follow- 
ing field and staff: Colonel Williafn H. Seward, 
Lieutenant-Colonel John Wright, Major Lyman Hin- 
man, Adjutant Oscar S. Burgess, Quartermaster John 
H. Chedell, Paymaster Nelson Beardsley, Surgeon F. 
L. Markham, and Dr. Blanchard Fosgate, Surgeon's 
mate. The 33d, thus commanded, became a well dis- 
ciplined and efficient corps. Lyman Ilinman succeed- 
ed to the Colonelcy in 1833, and Charles W. Pomeroy 
in 1838. 

The Auburn battery was commanded, after the pro- 
motion of Captains Seward and Hinman, by Samuel C. 
Dunham, and afterward by Joshua L. Jones ; Egbert 
B. Cumpston and Dudley P. G. Everts were Lieuten- 
ants. The gun-house of the company was situated on 
the northern side of Water Street, near the railroad. 



172 HISTORY OF AUBURN. 

The regiment, having answered the chief end of ita 
existence, was disbanded in 1842. 

Parades of large bodies of fantasticals, called fusi- 
leers, were also instituted in every part of the State, to 
manifest the popular contempt of the old militia system. 
Two such occurred in Auburn : one ou the 11th, and 
the other on the 18th of September, 1833. 

The second parade of the fusileers was made upon 
the occasion of an encampment of the regular militia, 
in the southern part of the county. xVssembling as 
cavalry, the fusileers sallied forth from Auburn, in 
absurd order and costumes, and approaching the camp, 
distracted the unfortunate objects of their derision by 
their ridiculous parade and performances, and so en- 
raged the officers of the militia, that, seizing an oppor- 
tunity when the fusileers were entangled in a lane, 
they fired loud volleys of cannon for their benefit, and 
stampeded the horses of the whole crowd. The scam- 
per of the luckless fusileers out of the lane is said to 
have been a most ludicrous sight. Their mockery, 
however, was keenly felt, and resulted in an ultimate 
revision of the odious laws. 

The census of 1820 represented the population of 
the village of Auburn as two thousand two hundred 
and thirty-three — an increase of one hundred per cent, 
in five years. In 1825, the population was reckoned 
as being two thousand nine hundred and eighty-two ; 
in 1830, as four thousand four hundred and eighty- 



ANNALS OF THE VILLAGE. 175 

six ; and in 1835, as five thousand three hundred and 
sixty-eight. 

This vigorous growth of the population of the vil- 
lage was accompanied with a corresponding expansion 
of the village itself. Indeed, Auburn, in the flight of 
the fifteen years ending with 1835, was wholly changed 
in appearance. Temples, store-houses, and mills, ho- 
tels, public buildings, and dwellings, shot up into the 
air on every street, mingling with, or supplanting old 
erections, filling the streets with piles of brick, stone, 
and lumber, and throngs of workmen and working 
teams, and developing the villakin into a large, thriv- 
ing, populous market-town, which those who had vis- 
ited it at the time of its incorporation, were unable to 
recognize. The place was prosperous beyond prece- 
dent. Great attention had been given to the grading 
and ornamentation of the streets. These were leveled 
and macadamized ; and shade-trees of choice varieties 
were set out along their sides by public-spirited citi- 
zens, who formed an association for the purpose, each 
agreeing, not only to plant trees in front of his own 
house, but at least one in front of his neighbor's. The 
reduction of the hill at the head of !North Street, in 
1829, was followed, the same season, by the pulling 
down of the old wooden Genesee-Street bridge. It 
was replaced by a massive stone bridge, supported by 
a single arch, which, however, sank beneath its own 
weight, the moment the center was removed ; a taste- 



174 HISTORY OF AUBURN. 

fill wooden structure was then erected in its stead. 
The North-Street bridge was raised and repaired, and 
the street and walks raised, in 1833. 

The year 1829 was one of the great building years. 
It gave to Auburn the Second Church, the paper-mill, 
a laro-e number of fine dwellinojs on Grover and other 
streets, the American, several minor shops and mills, 
and six fine cut-stone stores, four stories in height ; 
the stores being built on the site of the old Center 
House, by Ezekiel Williams, who started, in the west 
end of the block, the tannery now owned by William 
Lamey. The new Episcopal and Methodist Churches 
came in 1832. The new stone county jail was built 
in rear of the old wooden court-house, by Captain 
Bradley Tuttle, Truman J. McMaster, and Joshua 
Hoskins, county commissioners, in 1833 ; after which 
the old jail, built in the court-house, in imitation of the 
English, was discontinued. This was another great 
building year, and added to the village the Demaree 
block of seven cut-stone store-houses, now known as 
the Auburn House block, the Cayuga County Bank 
building, John H. Chedell's handsome stone block of 
two stores, the Hyde <fe Watrous' block, and numerous 
elegant wooden and brick dwellings. The new Baj)- 
tist Church on Genesee Street was erected in 1834. 
Eighty new residences sprang up during 1835 ; and 
a spacious four-story cut-stone block of eleven store- 
houses was built by the Hon. William H. Seward, 



ANNALS OF THE VILLAGE. 175 

Nelson Beardsley, Jared L. Rathbun, of Albany, Cal- 
vin Burr, Nathan Burr, James S. Seymour, Palmer 
Holley, and Cornelius B. and Jacob E,. DeReimer, 
between South and Exchange Streets. This block was 
a magnificent addition to the business part of Auburn. 
Building followed building in the happy and growing 
town. In 1836, the people were in a frenzy of con- 
struction, and public works received general attention. 
A town-hall and market had been authorized July 
7tli, 1835, by the passage of the following resolution, 
in the Board of Trustees : " Resolved^ That the Trus- 
tees proceed to ere at a building for a market and 
public hall, on the site purchased for that purpose 
(of Allen Warden), said building to be 105 feet by 45 
feet, the first story to be of cut-stone, the second story 
to be of natural-faced stone, except the corners and 
the window-caps and sills, which shall be cut ; said 
building to be furnished with a cupola suitable to 
hang a bell in of 500 pounds ; the whole to be finished 
in the modern style of Grecian architecture." John 
I. Hagaman, an excellent architect of the place, hav- 
ing prepared the plans, the foundation of the market 
was laid, in the spring of 1836, and the superstruc- 
ture carried up during the ensuing season, by Colonel 
Charles W. Pomeroy, contractor, the lower story 
being provided with stalls for the butchers, and the 
upper being finished as an exhibition hall. The new 
eonrt-house was also erected in 1836, immediately in 



176 HISTORY OF AUBUKN. 

fi'ont of the old building, at an expense of nearly thirty 
thousand dollars, by Eradley Tuttle, Truman J. Mc- 
Master, and Joshua Iloskins. "When projected, it 
was intended to crown the highest point of the new 
structure with a statue of Justice, and adorn the front, 
under the porticos, with statues of Liberty and Tem- 
perance ; but this part of the design has never been 
consiimmated. The architect of the court-house was 
John I. Hagaman, who submitted two plans for the 
same to the Supervisors, both well adapted to the 
purposes of the building, and creditable to the au- 
thor. But the Supervisors caused a new design to be 
made, embodying and uniting parts of the two sub- 
mitted ; building thereafter, they presented to the 
county a museum of classic architecture, which,, 
though considered at the time as a prodigy of art, has 
since endured just censure. The Auburn House and 
Merchant's Exchange Association was formed on the 
21st of March, 1836, with a capital of $25,000, by 
forty-three citizens of the town, for the purpose of 
erecting, from the three central stores of the Demaree 
block, an hotel and public exchange. The leading 
men in the association were Ezekiel Williams, 
Asaph D. Leonard, Allen Warden, Walter Weed, 
Nehemiah D. Carhart, Henry Polhemus, Peter P. E. 
Hayden, George B. Throop, Edward Barber, John B. 
Dill, Thomas T. Howe, Jr., and Charles Coveatry. 
The work contemplated by these gentlemen was 



ANNALS OF TIIK VILLAGE. ITT 

performed in 1886 and 1S38 ; they opened, in 1839, 
one of the finest liotels in Western New York. The 
organization of the Female Seminary Association, the 
improvement of the North-Street cemetery, and the 
erection of the Auburn park, were incidents of 1836. 
The park was donated to the town, September 12th, 
1836, by Hon. Elijah Miller. The triangle inclosed 
by Genesee, South, and Exchange Streets, was once 
offered to the people of Auburn for tlie same purpose, 
by William Eostwick, but was refused on account of 
the expense of leveling and fencing it. In 1836, Au- 
burn was almost ready to graduate from its village- 
hood and become a city. 

The source of all this advancement and prosperity 
in our beautiful place was exclusively the enterprise of 
its citizens, who were thoroughly pervaded with a 
passion for internal improvements, and were, during 
the fifteen years in view, engaged in the most public- 
spirited schemes for the development of the resources 
of the town, and for its adornment, and for the increase 
of the facilities of speedy transportation and travel to. 
the grand marts of the State and country ; which 
schemes now demand our attention. 

The condition of the rou.tes of travel between the 
villages and settlements of the Mohawk valley, and 
the Genesee country, then the " far west," was brought, 
into jfublic view as early as 1T91. Two routes then ex- 
isted between these widely separated districts : one by 
10 



178 IIISTOKY OF AUBUKN. 

land, tliroiigli the woods, the terrible and perilous Gene- 
see trail, and another by water, through the Mohawk 
Kiver, Wood Creek, Oneida Lake and River, and the 
Seneca River and tributaries, whicli was tedious and 
dangerous. The improvement of these and other 
routes for the benefit of trade was undertaken during 
the administration of Governor George Clinton. In 
1791, an act for establishing and opening " Lock Navi- 
gation " within Kew York was passed by tlie Legisla- 
ture of the State, whicli incorporated two " Inland 
Lock Navigation Companies : " one called the " West- 
ern," being authorized to open navigation between the 
Hudson River and the lakes of Ontario and Seneca ; 
and the other, known as the " Northern,'* to open 
navigation to Lake Champlain. The latter of these 
companies never acted under its charter. The former 
appointed Elkanah Watson, Philip Schuyler, and 
■Goldsbrow Banyar, to examine the state of the Mohawk 
River west from Schenectady ; and, upon their report, 
made in July, 1792, proceeded to improve that water- 
course, and connect it with Oneida Lake. A canal was 
built around Little Falls by their contractor, William 
Bostwick, afterward of Aubm-n, another around Ger- 
man Flats, and a third, a mile and three-quarters in 
length, across to Wood Creek. Several wooden locks 
were built on the stream last mentioned. Unable to pro- 
ceed further toward the interior, the Company, in 1808, 
surrendered that part of their grant west of Oneida 



ANNALS OF THE VILLAGE. 179 

Lake to the State. The colossal scheme of a canal, 
independent of the. rivers and lakes, running from the 
Hudson to Lake Erie, was projected at this time, as a 
substitute for lock navigation ; and, receiving the sanc- 
tion of the public men of the State, was brought before 
the Legislature, which appointed, on the 15th of 
March, 1810, a committee, consisting of Gouverneur 
Morris, Stephen Yan Rensselaer, De Witt Clinton, 
Simeon De Witt, William North, Thomas Eddy, and 
Peter B. Porter, to explore a route for the same, and 
report upon the practicableness of constructing it. It 
was upon the business of the commission that De Witt 
Clinton visited Auburn in 1810. In 1811, Robert 
R. Livingston and Robert Fulton were added to the com- 
mittee, which, in 1812, was authorized to purchase for 
the State all the rights, works, and privileges of the 
Western Inland Lock Navigation Company. In 1813, 
the Seneca Lock Navigation Company was incorpo- 
rated, and proceeded to open navigation between the 
Oswego River and Cayuga and Seneca Lakes, through 
their respective outlets. The great feasibility and ad- 
vantage of constructing a canal between Buffalo and 
the Hudson having been reported by the State Commit- 
tee, five Canal Commissioners, namely : Stephen Yan 
Rensselaer, De Witt Clinton, Joseph Ellicott, Samuel 
Young, and Myron IloUey, were appointed April lYth, 
1816, to survey, locate, and build it. 

The citizens of AiTburn took the liveliest interest ia 



180 HISTORY OF AUBUKN. 

all these measures, particularly in a questioii which 
arose the moment that the construction of the canal 
was definitely organized, the inevitable question of 
location. To secure the passage of the canal through 
this village, our citizens put forth every effort to give 
prominence to the claims of the place, and to express 
their approval of the great work. According to the 
act in regard to the improvement of internal navigation, 
commissioners were to be appointed in every city or 
village, near or through which the canal was expected 
to pass, to receive subscriptions to the same in land or 
money. Joseph Colt, then president of the village, 
Hon, Elijah Miller, and John Haring, then village 
clerk, accepted the appointment from Auburn, and used 
their influence in its favor. The citizens publicly 
evinced their approbation of the designs of the Canal 
Commissioners, at a meeting at Coe's Hotel, January 
23d, 181Y, of w^hich Nathaniel Garrow was chairman, 
and Hon. Glen Cuyler, secretary. Hon. Enos T. 
Throop, in a patriotic speech, stated the object of the 
meeting. Mr. Warner submitted recitals to the effect 
that though a few years past, " on our western frontier, 
murder had ' bar'd his arm,' and across the interior war 
liad chased ' the red dragons of her iron car,' " the 
regions through which " these Mediterranean seas were 
to roll their waters to the ocean," were then pervaded 
with peace and prosperity ; and that patriotism and in- 
terest both demanded, that, by the construction of great 



ANNALS OF THE YILLACiE. 181 

public works of the character of the one in view, that 
happy epoch should be hastened, " when civilization 
shall subdue barbarism ; when the scalping-knife of 
the forest shall be converted into a spade for the cul- 
tivated field ; when seats of science and temples of re- 
ligion shall lift their spires together in a land where 
now the wild man lurks at noon, and bj night the mon- 
sters prowl ; and when the limits of Christendom to 
the west shall be cc^-extensive with the continent." 
The resolution was then submitted, and unanimouslj 
adopted by the meeting, " That in our opinion thb 
MOMENT HAS AEKivED, for the legislative wisdom of our 
State and nation to see that this canal be made." 

This meeting, whose proceedings were given great 
publicity, failed, however, with all kindred efforts, in 
its prime object. Various considerations impelled the 
authorities to locate that section of the canal passing 
through Cayuga County, on a route seven miles north 
of Auburn. This town was set upon a hill and in the 
midst of hills, a route through which was, if not im- 
practicable, at least circuitous and difficult. It was a 
very undesirable port upon a great through line of 
travel. A circumstance, not without influence, was the 
fact that Myron Holley, one of the original and locat- 
ing Canal Commissioners, resided at Lyons, and was in 
favor of the northern route. It has been intimated, 
further, that the location of the prison of "Western 
Kew York had much to do with the location of the 



182 HISTORY OF AUBURN. 

canal, the former having been granted to Anburn on 
the condition that the village would resign her claims 
to the latter. 

The completion of the Erie Canal was an occasion 
of public rejoicing. The State hailed this event as the 
dawn of a new and brighter era in its history ; and 
demonstrations of joy broke forth spontaneously along- 
the whole line of the canal when the iirst through 
boat was admitted to its waters from Lake Erie. In 
these demonstrations Auburn engaged. At a meeting 
of her inhabitants at the Holt & Curtis tavern, Sep- 
tember 29th, 1825, of which Dr. Erastus Humphreys 
was chairman, and Hon. William H. Seward, secre- 
tary, a committee. Consisting of Colonel John "W. Hul- 
bert, Hon. Elijah Miller, Dr. Erastus Humphreys, Ste- 
phen W. Hughes, and G. A. Gamage, was appointed 
to proceed to Weedsport, and represent her in the cele- 
bration there. The packet-boat Seneca arrived at 
Weedsport, bearing Governor Clinton and suite, on the 
way to New York, on the morning of the 29th of Oc- 
tober, before daybreak. Auburn, through her com- 
mittee, tendered her congratulations to his excellency, 
and the boat, after a short delay, passed on in the 
midst of salutes, bonfires, and fireworks, toward her 
destination. 

It is an interesting fact relative to the middle divi- 
sion of the Erie Canal, that the first boat used thereon 
was built in Auburn, in 1822, on the flat through which 



ANNALS OF THE VILLAGE. 183 

Water Street now runs, near !North Street, by a car- 
penter named Howland, who was the grandfather of 
the eccentric character known here familiarly for so 
many years as Professor Popple. The boat was 
launched at Weed sport. 

No sooner had it been announced that the Grand 
Canal was a fixed fact, than the subject of lateral ca- 
nals, with connecting navigation upon the lakes of 
Western l^ew York, whose general direction was north 
and south, presented itself to the public mind. Some- 
body having dreamed of such a canal to pass through 
Auburn, presented the idea for the contemplation of 
the good people of this village. The launching of 
a steamboat called the Mcperiment, at Ithaca, May 
11th, 1820 — the same day that the corner-stone of the 
Theological Seminary was laid in Auburn — to ply be- 
tween the villages at the extremities of Cayuga Lake, 
kindled an interest in the matter of navigating Owasco 
Lake, and of extending navigation thereon to the Grand 
Canal, through the outlet and a short branch canal. 
The people of the village met at Coe's tavern, on the 
14th of August, 1820, to deliberate on the subject, and 
resolved to apply to the Canal Commissioners for an 
engineer to survey a route for the proposed improve- 
ment, and calculate its cost. But the project was then 
generally considered visionary, and next month was 
abandoned. 

The necessity of efifecting some improvement upon 



184 HISTORY OF AUBUKN. 

the Owasco Outlet, for the purj^ose of obtaining an un- 
failing supply of water from the lake for hydraulic pur- 
poses in this place, and the necessity of maintaining the 
position of Auburn as the market-town of Cayuga 
County, revived discussion, in 1822, upon the topic of 
the lateral canal. It was proposed to construct slich a 
canal from Port Byron to the Owasco Outlet.; to so im- 
prove the outlet that easy entrance to the lake might be 
gained ; and to connect the inlet of the lake with the 
Susquehanna Kiver by a work similar to the one pro- 
posed north of Auburn. Action in the matter was 
first taken on the 17th of November, 1825, at a public 
meeting at Hudson's hotel, of which Hon. Elijah 
Miller was chairman, and Hon. John Porter was secre- 
tary. A committee, consisting of Hon. Elijah Miller, 
Hon. Gershom Powers, Lyman Paine, Roderick 
Watson, Elihu Weed, George C. E. Thompson, Jona- 
than Hussey, Ebenezer "Williams, and Salmon Cove, 
was appointed to survey the ground north of Auburn, 
ascertain the summit level, and examine the project, 
with regard to its feasibility and cost. The eminent 
engineers, David Thomas and James Geddes, per- 
formed the necessary surveys, and reported the result 
of their investigations to a meeting of the citizens in 
December. Time was allowed for further examina- 
tions. 

The enterprise lay dormant during the exciting 
campaign and State election of 1826, but was the 



ANNALS OF THE VILLAGE, 185 

prominent object of tlionglit and attention in 1827. 
It was put into the Lands of another committee, con- 
sisting of Hon, "William H. Seward, Ezekiel "Williams, 
Hon, Elijah Miller, Hon. John H. Beach, Allen War- 
den, John Patty, Horace Hills, Obed Folger, and 
George C. Skinner, appointed at a public meeting at 
the "Western Exchange, June 12th, 1827, who received 
instructions to report as soon as practicable what might 
be done in the matter, especially in the way of improv- 
ing and developing the hydraulic power of the Owasco 
Outlet. On the 13th, Elkanah Watson, one of the pro- 
jectors of the canal policy of this State, then tempo- 
rarily in Auburn, was induced by Mr. Seward to visit 
the outlet, and pronounce an opinion on the contem- 
plated work. His views, stated at length in writing, 
were, that the improvement was one of immense im- 
portance, and, if a canal or railroad should be con- 
structed in connection with it, either to Port Byron or 
Weed's Basin, would double the population of Auburn 
in ten years. 

The committee reported on the 21st of June to a 
numerously attended meeting at the Western Ex- 
change, of which Ezekiel Williams was chairman, 
and William H. Seward, secretary, that George T, 
Olmsted had been employed to make surveys and take 
levels ; that the outlet, which had a descent of six 
inches from the lake to Judge Paine's saw mill, might 
be made navigable by clearing out the logs and flood- 



186 HISTORY OF AUBUKN. 

wood ; that a canal might be constructed along the 
west bank of the outlet from and upon the level of the 
dam at Judge Paine's, and terminating at the old 
Walker lot, the site of the proposed basin, where it 
would be forty-three feet above the bed of the stream ; 
that a dam for raising the level of the lake misht be 
safely erected at Paine's ; and that the advantages of 
the proposed improvement were tlie supplying of the 
village with an abundance of pure water for house- 
hold purposes and the prevention of fires, the facilities 
for bringing from remote and otherwise inaccessible 
parts of the country large supplies of lumber for build- 
ing purposes, and grain and wool for the mills, and the 
practicability of occupying the whole length of the 
canal, which was one mile and seventy-two rods, with 
mills and manufactories, to be propelled by water- 
power, without injury to navigation. 

The report of the committee was adopted. The 
Hon. John Porter having been appointed on the com- 
mittee, to fill tlie place of Hon. John H. Beach, re- 
signed, that body was organized to take measures for 
the organization of a company to effect the proposed 
improvement. Books for subscriptions to the capital 
of such a company were opened on the 12th day of 
July. By the 31st, one hundred thousand dollars was 
subscribed thereon, and the iVuburn and Owasco 
Canal Company was organized the same day. The 
following named gentlemen were elected directors: 



ANNALS OF THE VILLAGE. 18T 

Ezekiel "Williams, president; Hon. William H. Sew- 
ard, secretary ; Horace Hill, treasurer ; Archibald 
Green, Lyman Paine, Samuel Cumpston, John Patty, 
Hon. Enos T. Throop, Abijah Pitch, and Allen War- 
den. The canal committee then announced the forma- 
tion of the company, and that it was ready to go into 
operation. Proposals for constructing the canal were 
soon afterward advertised for. The company was in- 
corporated April 21st, 1828. 

The subject of communication with the Erie Canal 
was then again revived. It was proposed to effect this 
by carrying out Mr. Watson's idea of a railway. Hon. 
Gershom Powers addressed a meeting at the Western 
Exchange, on the 4:th of February, 1828, of which 
Hon. Elijah Miller was chairman, and Ezekiel Wil- 
liams, secretary, on the subject of communication with 
the canal, and presented a resolution in the following 
words : " Hesol/ved^ that it is expedient to make appli- 
cation to the Legislature for the State to construct a 
railroad from this place to the Erie Canal," at the 
State's expense, which was assented to with perfect 
unanimity. Hon. Elijah Miller, Eleazer Hills, Hon. J. 
L. Richardson, Ambrose Cock, Lyman Paine, Hon. 
John Porter, Robert Muir, Bradley Tuttle, George C. 
Skinner, Hon. W. T. Doubleday, Abijah Pitch, Wil- 
liam H. Seward, Allen Warden, Jabez Pease, William 
Brown, E. Catlin, Asa Munger, Gershom Powers, 
Ebenezer and Ira Hopkins, Ezekiel Williams, Walter 



188 HISTORY OF AUBURN. 

Weed, Samuel Cumpston, Woodis Rice, Horace Hills, 
and Archibald Green were constituted a committee to 
memorialize the Legislature on the subject. The com- 
mittee labored in due time and brought forth a peti- 
tion of portentous length, which was forwarded to the 
lower house of the Legislature. Tlie project met with 
favor. A report was made in the Assembly upon it on 
the 26th of February, which recommended the con- 
fitruction of the proposed railroad by the State, for the 
following reasons : first, that it was desirable that the 
State should collect accurate information on the sub- 
ject of railroads, which were then just beginning to 
awaken public attention ; secondly, that the road in 
view would extend great accommodations to a remote 
and productive part of the interior ; and thirdly, the 
pecuniary benefits to accrue to the State from the busi- 
ness of the road, and as connected with the prison at 
Auburn. The Assembly committee was ordered to 
prepare a bill. 

Action in both the canal and the railroad enterprise 
was, however, deferred for several years, political strife 
and other business projects engaging the entire atten- 
tion of their leading men. In 1833 the millers and 
business men of Auburn became convinced that the 
interests of the town demanded the immediate con- 
struction of the Auburn and Owasco Canal, both for 
navigation and for manufacturing purposes ; and with 
the aid of public meetings and the warm co-operation 



% ANNALS OF THE VILLAGE. 189 

of the citizens at large, they obtained in January, 1834, 
a new charter, the necessary amount of capital, and an 
organization composed of new, energetic, and practical 
men. A review of the merits of the different plans 
for effecting the purposes of the company resulted in 
the adoption of the method of erecting, in the gorge 
of the creek, a few feet below the Hyde & Beach dam, 
a new stone dam, forty feet high, and of constructing^ 
thence to the Walker lot, along the western bank» 
a suitable canal. The new dam was expected to sub- 
merge both Garlick's and Paine's, and set back water 
into the lake. 

The Auburn and Owasco Canal Company was re-or- 
ganized on the 1st day of June, 1835, by sixteen citi- 
zens of Auburn, whose directors, after completing ne- 
gotiations with Henry Polhemus, Elijah Miller, John 
M. Sherwood, Amos Underwood, Nehemiah D. Car- 
hart, and John C. Watkins, for the riparian lands af- 
fected by the work, and for certain mills at the Hyde 
& Beach and the Garlick dams, which cost in all 
about seventy thousand dollars, resolved, on the 28th 
of September, " that the foundation-stone of the 
dam, to be erected for continuing the navigation of 
the Owasco Lake into the village of Auburn, be laid 
by the president on Weduesday, the 14th day of Oc- 
tober next, at twelve o'clock at noon ; and that Hon. 
William H. Seward be requested, in the name of this 
company, to deliver an address on that occasion." The 



190 HISTORY OF AUBUKN. # 

directors also resolved, " that Henry Polheraus, Amos 
Underwood, Hugh Watson, Stephen A. Goodwin, and 
George H. Wood, be a committee on the part of this 
Board, to act in concert with any committee which 
may be appointed by our fellow-citizens, in making 
the proper arrangements for the occasion." Also, 
*•' that the military and fire companies, the president 
and trustees of the village of Auburn, the president, 
directors, and stockholders of the Aub. & Syr. K. R. 
Co., and their engineers, the mechanics, millers, and 
manufacturers of the village of Auburn and vicinity, the 
citizens of the village of Auburn, and of this and the 
adjoining counties, be respectfully invited to join in 
the celebration." 

In accordance with the wishes of the company, the 
citizens of the town appointed, at a public meeting 
held October 1st, a committee, representing every 
trade and profession, to co-operate with and aid the di- 
rectors' committee in ordering matters for the celebra- 
tion. It comprised the following : Colonel Charles W. 
Pomeroy, chairman ; A. G. Bostwick, Asa C. Munger, 
James H. Bostwick, Robert Cook, Michael S. Myers, 
E. H. Johnson, Asaph D. Leonard, Robert Muir, 
George Casey, Amasa Curtice, B. White, John Rich- 
ardson, Cyrus C. Dennis, Ezekiel Williams, John Sey- 
mour, A. Munger, Willet Lonnsbury, Truman J. 
McMaster, H. H. Cooley, Daniel Hewson, Hon. John 
Porter, W. Holmes, A. L. Cooper, Daniel F. Cock. 



ANNALS OF THE VILLAGE. 191 

- At the break of a beautiful autumnal day, tlie thun- 
der of cannon at Auburn heralded the approaching 
celebration. The village and adjoining towns were 
astir earlj in the morning, and the people came forth in 
throngs to evince their sympathy wnth the enterprising 
men who had projected, and apparently were about to 
consummate, their bold design of a canal to the Owasco 
Lake. An immense procession was formed at eleven 
o'clock, in front of the American hotel, by Colonel 
William Goodwin, Marshal of the day, and Major 
Royal P. Stowe, his assistant, which was conducted 
through Genesee and Mechanic Streets to the site of 
the contemplated dam, under escort of the Auburn 
Guards, the Auburn Artillery, and a body of military 
officers in uniform. Besides the officers and engineers 
of the Canal Company, and of the A. & S. E.. E. 
Company, and the Trustees of Auburn, there appeared 
in the procession the Mechanics' Association of Skan- 
eateles, with its ensigns and flags, the mechanics, man- 
ufacturers, and millers of Auburn, with banners and 
the badges of their respective occupations, the trades, 
witlt scarce an exception, being represented and ac- 
tively carried on upon separate cars, handsomely and 
appropriately decorated, each drawn by four horses. 
These were followed by the fire companies of Au- 
burn, the Young Men's Literary and Scientific Asso- 
ciation, the clergy, and large numbers of citizens. 
The printers struck off and distributed to the peo[)le, 



192 HISTOKY OK ALBURN. 

as they passed along in the procerision, the following 
yerses : 

Hail, Enterpriae ! whose rising sun. 

This day beams forth its light 
The Union's " loveliest village " on. 
Where all her patriot sons, as one. 

To greet thy dawn, unite. 

Well may thy citizens agree, 

With joy, to celebrate the hour. 
In which is turned the magic key, 
That opens, Auburn ! unto thee, 

The secret sources of thy power. 

Here join each Trade, Profession, Art, 

Beneath the colors of the free. 
With unity of thought and heart, 
Renewed impulses to impart. 

To Enterprise and Industry. 

With happiness, and health, and peace, 

By smiling heaven blessed, 
AuBUBN ! may thy proud march ne'er cease 
Till by still prosperous increase. 
In wealth, in numbers, and in fame, 
Thou earnest to thyself the name. 

Of Fairest Citt of the West. 

Prayer at the scene of the ceremony was oifered by 
the Rev. William Lucas, rector of St. Paul's Church, 
A noble and prophetic address was then delivered to 
the dense throng in the ravine, by the Hon. "William H. 
Seward. At the close of the address, the Hon. tflow- 
land Day, of Moravia, deposited in the corner-stone of 
the dam, a plate inscribed : 

"THIS CORNER-STONE 

OP THE 

AUBURN AND OWASCO CANAL, 

Was laid Oct. 14th, Anno Domini, 1835, 

and of American Independence, 

the 60th. 



ANNALS OF T!IE VILLAGE. 193 



MKECTOES OF THE AUliURN AND OWASCO CANAL COMPANY. 



John M. Sherwood, 
Elijah Miller, . 
Henry Polhemus. 
Amos Underwood, 
William H. Seward, 



George H. Wood, 
Nelson Beardsley, 
Nehemiah D. Carhart, 
Henry Yates. 



TRUSTEES OF THE VILLAGE OF AlfBTJEN. 

Michael S. Myers, I Charles W. Pomeroy, 

John H. Chedell, Jesse Willard. 

Bradley Tuttle, I 

Population of Aiibuni, 5,368." 

And the stone was laid, while cannon thundered from 
both banks of the stream. 

A large company sat dovm in the afternoon to a 
snmptnous dinner at the American, over which the 
Hon. Elijah Miller, assisted by the Hon. Ulysses F. 
Doubleday, Hon. John Porter, and Col. John Kichard- 
son presided. According to cnstom, the dinner was 
concluded with wine and toasts, the latter being, on 
this occasion, unusually profuse and patriotic. The 
ith of July number of thirteen led the way ; volun- 
teers followed. Among them were the following : 

"OuK FELLOW-CITIZEN, Wm. H. Seward. — May his eloquent address, pro 
nounced to-day, awaken public attention to the capabilities of the loveliest vil- 
lage of the West." 

" Edtjoation.— The bulwark of our Eepublic. He deserves the best of the 
State who most contributes to its universal diffusion." 

By Hon. Elijah Miller. " Wbstekn New York. — By the bounty of the State 
and the enterprise of her citizens, may her canals and railroads be multiplied 
in the ratio of her increasing population." 

By Hon. George B. Throop. " Public Spirit.— Promoting improvements in 
all, and excluding no quarter of our village, comprehending the prosperity of 
each citizen, trade, class, and profession of our population, as the direct means 
of increasing the wealth, importance, and enlargement of Auburn." 

By Parliament Bronson, Esq. " The dam op the Auburn and Owasco 
Canal Company.— May it raise a fountain from which will flow liberal streams 
of profit to the company, and of prosperity to the village." 
11 



194 HISTORY OF AUBUKN. 

By Sherman Beardelcy, Esq. "TuE Town of Auburn.— The surrounding 
conutry ia willing to pay her honors." 

By Richard L. Smith, Esq. " The Owasco.— Let us float on her calm bosom 
and lave in her clear waters." 

By Lyman L. Wilkinson, Esq, " Our own Village.— The center of the 
State of New York ; her local advantages justly claim for her the distinction 
of Capital." 

By George H. Wood, Esq. "The Farmers, Mechanics, and Manupac 
TUBERS.— The bone and sinew of the nation." 

By Edward E. Marvine, Esq. " Auburn in 1845.-- The key-stone city of the 
State ; with 20,000 inhabitants ; a manufacturing revenue of $4,000,000 ; a State 
House ; two colleges, and no poor-house." 

By Nelson Beardsley, Esq. " Oub guests trom neighboring towns and 
COUNTIES.— Their attendance on this occasion evinces a liberal and magnani- 
mous'spirit, which we ought not only to acknowledge, but to reciprocate." 

The festivities of the day ended with a magnificent 
l3all at the Western Exchange, which was conducted, 
in all respects, in a more splendid style than any ever 
before given in any of the villages of Western New 
York. 

The building of the big dam was commenced by 
Captain Bradley Tuttle, the contractor, without delay. 
By the middle of the spring of 1836, the stone struc- 
ture had been raised to the height of fifteen feet, and 
was carried up, as the state of the outlet permitted, till, 
in the fall of 1839, it had been erected to the height of 
twenty-five feet, or twice the height of the old wooden 
dam near by. Garlick's dam was submerged in the 
beautiful pond thus formed ; the power of two hundred 
and fifty horses was gained at the new fall. By rais- 
■ ,mg the big dam to the proposed height of thirty-eight 
feet — which was necessary to eft'ect navigation to the 



ANNALS OF THE VILLAGE. 195 

lake — and by lowering the bed of the outlet, near the 
lake, two feet, it was expected that the power of seven 
Imndred horses would be gained. While the dam 
was being constructed, an excavation for the intended 
basin of the canal was progressing at the old Walker 
lot, to which, about the year 1839, a bridge was built 
from the opposite side of the outlet, in accordance with 
the design of connecting navigation on the canal and 
lake witli railroad communication between Auburn 
and the Erie Canal ; and a route for a railroad track from 
the bridge to the A. & S. K. R. depot in the town was 
marked out. The scheme of navigation on the outlet 
was, however, never carried out. It was abandoned 
about the year 1840. The unwonted stringency of the 
times had caused public interest in the matter to droop, 
while the gentlemen who had embarked their private 
fortunes in the erection of the big dam and the im- 
provement of the water-power of the outlet, having 
suffered heavy losses in the general decline of prices 
in 1837, were unable to carry their noble design for- 
ward to consummation. Certain movements, moreover, 
in Auburn and the adjoining towns, looking toward 
the construction of railroads through the productive 
grain and timber regions, which it had been expected 
to reach by navigation on the lake, appeared to have 
removed the necessity for that last named measure. 
Leaving the big dam, with its magnificent hydraulic 
power, as it stood in 1 839, therefore, the Canal Com- 



196 JIISTORY OF AUBURN. 

pany sold its property along the outlet, namely : two 
grist mills, having four runs of stone each, two saw mills, 
seven dwellings with lots, village lots to the extent of 
one hundred and eighteen acres, and the unoccupied 
hydraulic privileges of the upper and lower 'dams ; 
and wound up its affairs, having indeed failed to ac-, 
complisli the nominal end of its existence, but having, 
nevertheless, performed a work that has crowned it 
with honor, and the city of Auburn with prosperity. 

The movement in Auburn for building a railroad to 
the Erie Canal received a fresh impulse in 1831, from 
the proceedings of the State Eailroad Convention at 
Syracuse, on the 12th of October, This convention 
was held upon the invitation of the citizens of Buffalo, 
to discuss the propriety of constructing a railroad from 
Buffalo to Schenectady, passing through the villages 
of Utica and Salina, and was attended by delegates 
from all the principal places on the line of the pro- 
posed road ; the delegates from Auburn being Parlia- 
ment Bronson, John M. Sherwood, and Nathaniel 
Garrow. The organization of a company, with a 
capital of iive millions, to build this road, which, it 
was tlie prevalent sentiment in the convention, should 
follow the route of the Erie Canal, as far westward, at 
least, as Kochester, was concluded upon. It was re- 
solved to apply to the Legislature for a charter. 

Two bad wagon-roads were at this time the only 
means of communication witli the Erie Canal from 



ANNALS OF THE VILLAGE. 197 

Auburn. Since the Syracuse convention did not ex- 
tend the assurance that the proposed through railroad 
should be constructed through this place, the necessity 
of carrying into eiFect some one of the many schemes 
for enabling the citizens of Auburn to place their 
manufactures and the products of the country rapidly 
and cheaply on the canal, for shipment to the great 
markets, forced itself upon the attention of our promi- 
nent men. A public meeting was called at the West- 
ern Exchange, January 6tli, 1832, It was resolved, 
" That in order to sustain the present prosperous and 
flourishing condition of our village, and to provide for 
its continuity and augmentation, an application be 
made to the Legislature of this State, at its present 
session, for a charter to construct a railroad, from the 
village of Auburn to the Erie Canal," in accordance 
with which an application was made for a charter, 
and Hon. "Wm. H. Seward, then in the State Senate, 
procured the passage of the same. 

But the Legislature having refused, for various im- 
portant considerations, the request of the Syracuse 
convention to incorporate a Buffalo and Schenectady 
railroad company, the citizens of Auburn, ready to 
profit thereby, changed their plans, and conceived the 
bold design of constructing a railroad from this point 
to the Erie Canal at the village of Syracuse, which, it 
was believed, would have all the advantages of the 
chartered road to Port Byron, and would place Au- 



198 HISTORY OF AUBUKN. 

burn, beyond a doubt, upon the great foreshadowed 
tlirough line of raih-oads from the Hudson River to 
Lake Erie. Enterprises of such magnitude and im- 
portance could, at that early day, be prosecuted only 
with the aid of the people. To them, accordingly, 
assembled at the AVestern Exchange, on the 27th day 
of December, 1833, was the matter submitted. Cap- 
tain Bradley Tuttle took the chair at the meeting, and 
John H. Chedell was elected secretary. The scheme 
of the railroad to Syracuse was presented and argued, 
and was cordially indorsed by the most eminent citi- 
zens of the town, twenty-five of whom were designated 
as a manfaging committee, and were authorized to 
take efficient measures for obtaining a charter from 
the Legislature, and for the organization of the rail- 
road company. 

The Auburn & Syracuse Railroad Company was in- 
corporated by an act of the Legislature, passed May 
1st, 1834, with an authorized capital of $400,000. It 
began existence under inauspicious circumstances. The 
construction of the railroad from Auburn to S}Tacuse 
was, from the broken nature of the ground over which 
a large part of it must necessarily pass, and from the 
retired and unfavorable location of Auburn, regarded 
in many places as an act of unspeakable folly. Hun- 
dreds prophecied the total failure of the enterprise, 
predicting that every dollar invested in the road 
would be a positive loss. One of the leading citizens 



AJSTNALS OF THE VILLAGE. 199 

of this village, Michael S. Myers, Esq., visiting Albany 
on railroad business, met at that distant place the dis- 
couraging remark from an eminent friend, that it was 
foolish to even dream of a railroad poking in among 
the hills that surrounded Auburn. jSTotwithstanding 
the immense and palpable advantages of the road to 
our citizens, they too were infected, with a fear that it 
would be impossible to construct it, or make it pay in 
any manner whatever. They fea.red that the line 
could not compete with the Grand Canal, Packet 
boats for the rapid carriage of passengers were then in 
common use on the isanal ; and traveling upon them 
was so comfortable and safe, and so far superior to the 
tiresome old-time method of traveling in the stages, that 
not a few believed that the ultimatum was reached, 
and that no further facilities for convenient or quick 
travel were of any possible use. It may also be re- 
marked that proprietors of parallel lines of stages did 
not view the railroad with favor. 

Subscription books were, notwithstanding, opened 
in Auburn at the Western Exchange, in July, and, 
nothing having then been done toward taking the stock 
of the company, again in November, under the direc- 
tion of Colonel Levi Lewis, Captain Bradley Tuttle, 
Amos Underwood, Hon. Thomas Y. Howe, Jr., and 
Robert Cook, of Auburn, and John Wilkinson, Henry 
Raynor, George Geddes, and Horace Wliite, of Syra- 
cuse, commissioners. It is impossible to regard the 



200 HISTORY OF AUBURN. 

energy and high-minded tenacity of pur])use displayed 
by these gentlemen, and the Hon. Elijah Miller and 
other faithful co-operators in the town, in their efforts 
to awaken public confidence in their valuable enter- 
prise, and to win the attention and substantial support 
of the moneyed men of the region travei'sed by the 
road, without sentiments of admiration. Pushing 
ahead in the face of all discouragements, they labored 
incessantly during the period allowed them by law to 
obtain subscriptions, traveling over the ground be- 
tween Auburn and Syracuse time and again, stu'ring 
up the citizens of the villages and towns to a sense of 
the importance of the work in hand, and bringing 
them to further it by taking stock. It was no easy 
task they had undertaken, but, in spite of all im- 
pediments, they mastered it, being enabled to re- 
port, on the 11 til of December, that they had re- 
ceived subscriptions to the full amount of four hun- 
dred thousand dollars. 

Of this sum, three hundred and fifty thousand was 
raised in Auburn and the immediate vicinity.' Organi- 
zation of the company was effected on the 20tli day 
of January, 1835. The management was intrusted to 
Hon. Elijah Miller, president ; Asaph D. Leonard, 
secretary ; George B. Throop, treasurer ; Nathaniel 
Garrow, John M. Sherwood, Stephen Yan Anden, 
Dr. Kichard Steel, John Seymour, Abijah Fitch, Ed- 
ward E. Marvin, and Allen Warden, of Auburn, and 



ANNALS OF THE VILLAGE. 201 

Yivus W. Smith and Henry Ray nor, of Syracuse, di- 
rectors. 

The surveys and examinations preliminary to the 
location of the route of the road were made under the 
direction of the accomplished engineer, Edwin F. 
Johnson, by Levi Williams, Esq., his assistant, during 
the summer of 1835. When these were done, Hugh 
Lee, Esq., was also employed, and all proceeded to 
prepare the work for the contractors. A depot, in 
appearance not unlike a political wigwam of later 
times, was erected near the south-east corner of Yan- 
Anden and State Streets. Work upon the line of the 
road was begun and vigorously prosecuted the ensuing 
season, under the supervision of Colonel Levi Lewis, 
the superintendent. The incorporation of the Auburn 
and Eochester Kailroad Company, May 13th, 1836, 
with a capital of $2,000,000, and of other roads, mak- 
ing a complete connection between Buffalo and Al- 
bany, the same year, added wings to the building of 
the road to Syracuse, which was opened for travel, as 
will be seen in the next chapter, in the year 1838. 

The unusually long and pleasant Indian summer of 
1835, so favorably remembered by our citizens, and so 
propitious for the prosecution of the numerous public 
works then under way in the town, was followed by a 
winter that opened mildly, and was at first accom- 
panied with so little snow, that by JSTew Year's day, 
of 1836, wagons were in general use in lieu of sleighs. 



202 HISTOKY OF AUBUEN. 

But the montli of January, of the latter year, was as 
distinguished for its storms, as its predecessors for their 
tranquillity. On Friday, the 8th, a wet snow suddenly 
began to fall in dense, large flakes, in nearly all the 
Northern States. The pent-up storms of winter seemed 
to have been all at once let loose. The fleecy element 
descended in dense clouds, without cessation, all through 
Friday night and Saturday, filling up and blockading 
all the roads, and burdening the roofs of the villages 
till they groaned. Baron Munchausen relates that he 
was once abroad in such a storm, and that the snow 
fell in such vast measure that he passed entirely over 
the city to which he was bound, in the dark, and 
hitched his horse, upon losing his way, to the spire of 
a steeple that protruded from the snow, thinking that 
it was a horse-post. Auburn seemed about to be 
buried in like manner. But on Sunday the storm 
abated, with four feet of wet, heavy snow on the 
ground. The males of the town spent a large part of 
the day of rest on the house-tops. The roofs generally 
" gave signs of woe," and some were crushed by the 
masses of snow that had accumulated upon them. A 
perfect embargo upon trade and travel reigned for 
days, and even weeks. The stages could not run ; the 
mails could only be sent through by a postman ; and 
such citizens of the town and the country, as were not 
so fortunate as to have had an ample supply of fuel on 
hand before the storm, suffered severely. The farm- 



ANNALS OF THE VILLAGE. 20S 

ers, shut out from the woods, had to use the fuel near- 
est to them, and a general destruction of rail and board 
fences was the consequence. Baron Munchausen 
further relates, in continuation of his account of the 
extraordinary snow-storm mentioned above, having 
tied his horse as stated, and himself gone to sleep in 
his sleigh, he awoke the next morning to find that a 
thaw had carried off all the snow during the nighty 
leaving him and his establishment dangling in mid air^ 
while the populace of the town had gathered in the 
streets below, and were gazing at his extraordinary 
position. Such a thaw occurred in l^ew York, in the 
spring of 1836. The vast body of snow that covered its 
surface suddenly melted, about the Nones of April^ 
and the State was almost inundated. The peaceful 
Owasco raged furiously for days. Severe damage was 
inflicted upon hydraulic works and property. Three 
dams between Genesee Street and the lake were 
swept away, the lower story of the mechanic's hall on 
Mechanic Street was shattered, and the old wooden 
market on the !North-Street bridge was undermined 
and nearly demolished. The canal dam, however, re- 
mained sound. 

Among the numerous projects planned in Auburn^ 
in the winter of 1835, was one for the establishment 
of a college here, under the auspices and control of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church. The proposition 
originated at a meeting of the Oneida Conference at 



204: HISTOKY OF AUliURX. 

Oswego, September 25th, 1835. Assurances of warm 
support and co-operation in the movement having 
been received from several eminent declared friends 
of education in Auburn and other places, seven of 
them, namely, Hon. Wm. H. Seward, Hon. Nathaniel 
Garrow, George B. Throop, John Seymour, and Rev. 
Zachariah Paddock, of Auburn ; and Rev. George 
Peck and Rev. Josiah Keyes, of Cazenovia, were con- 
stituted a committee to apply to the Regents of the 
University for a charter for the college. The Genesee 
Conference, on the lith of October, appointed a com- 
mittee to co-operate, namely : Rev. Samuel Luckey, 
D.D., and Augustus A. Bennett, of Lima; Rev. Abner 
Chase, of Penn Yan ; Rev. John B. Alverson, of 
Perry ; Jonathan Metcalf, of Seneca Falls ; Dr. Samuel 
Hoore, of Palmyra ; and Dr. O. C. Comstock, of Tru- 
mansburg. The commissioners met in Auburn, on 
^the 23d of December, for counsel. Messrs. Garrow, 
Seward, and Throop were authorized by the Board to 
take such measures as they might deem expedient, 
toward obtaining a charter from the Regents, and an 
endowment from the Legislature. It being definitely 
proposed to erect a college in Auburn, on the Dill 
farm, on the north side of Allen Street, a few rods 
east of Washington Street, which, when finished, 
would, with the grpunds, cost thirty thousand dollars, 
and to endow the same with fifty thousand dollars, the 
Regents readily consented to charter the college, 



ANNALS OF THE VILLAGE. 205 

when built. The commissioners, therefore, having 
matured their plans, invited the public to meet them 
at the Methodist church in Auburn, August 25th, 
1836, to devise means to carry forward the work.. 
Hon. Enos T. Throop took the chair at the meeting ; 
Hon. Elijah Miller, Nathaniel Garrow, Henry Polhe- 
mus, Hon. Joseph L. Kichardson, and Isaac L. Miller 
were elected vice-presidents ; and John H. Chedell 
and Edward E. Marvine were elected secretaries. 
After addresses from Gov. Throop, Mr. Seward, Geo. 
B. Throop, and others, subscriptions were asked for, 
and eighteen thousand dollars was raised on the spot. 
A committee appointed to wait on the citizens of the 
town, and request their aid in the enterprise, consisted 
of Hon. Wm. H. Seward, John H. Chedell, John Dill, 
E. E. Marvine, Hon. John Porter, Dr. Richard Steel, 
Truman J. McMaster, Clark B. Hotchkiss, Bradley 
Tuttle, Hiram Bostwick, Michael S. Myers, Asaph D. 
Leonard, ISTathaniel Garrow, "W. S. Palmer, Amos 
Underwood, and John Seymour. A board of trustees 
was organized soon afterward, with Mr. Garrow as 
president, and Mr. Seward, secretary. 

The Auburn College project was not a mere myth, 
therefore, as some have supposed, but was a genuine 
undertaking, which was begun in good faith, with 
every prospect of success, and elicited the favor and 
notice of some of the most distinguished men of the 
State. ~ Fortv thousand dollars were subscribed to 



200 UISTOUV OF AUliUKN. 

the college fund, a plan for the college buildings 
was prepared, a site of ten acres was donated, and all 
things were, in the winter of 1836, favorable for a com- 
mencement of the work of building in the spring. 
The sad embarrassments of 1837, however, caused the 
abandonment of the enterprise, though it was with re- 
luctant hearts that its friends finally ceased their 
efforts to prosecute it to success. 

1836 was the most memorable year in the annals of 
the village of Auburn. No year ever began more au- 
spiciously, or terminated more joyfully, or was regard- 
ed at its close with more satisfaction by the merchant, 
mechanic, capitalist, and speculator. It was a period of 
extraordinary activity in every department of business, 
and of visionary speculation. It was the great excited 
year of Auburn history. Real estate rose to five and 
ten times its former value. The village was enlarged, on 
paper, to the bounds of the township. Lots and farms 
were sold at fabulous prices. Costly and spacious edi- 
fices were erected all over the place, and new and 
larger ones were planned, broad boulevards were laid 
out in the suburbs, and the citizens all felt rich, and all 
made money whether they bought or sold. Under 
the belief that the village was soon to be a powerful 
manufacturing town, land companies were formed^ and 
bought up all the outlying lands at enormous rates, 
and public works were projected of unprecedented 
magnitude. The trustees of the corporation, at the 



ANNALS OF THE VILLAGE. 207 

request of the citizens, caused an imposing map of 
the town to be engraved and printed, displaying at- 
tractive representations of the Auburn College, the 
Prison, the Seminary, and other public buildings, and 
of numberless broad avenues and spacious blocks that 
one may now search Auburn in vain to find, a delinea- 
tion of Eagle Park, as it was intended that Fort Hill 
should in the future be known, and a sketch of the 
beautiful Owasco Lake, with steamboats floating on its 
placid bosom, and numerous vessels passing from its 
surface through a lock into a great canal. 



208 HISTOKY OF AUBURN. 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE GENERAL PROGRESS OF AUBURN FROM THE TIME OF 
THE PANIC TO THE PRESENT. 

issT-iseo. 

We would willingly glance once more at the liappy 
picture presented by our village in the halcyon days 
of '36, before shouldering our burden and trudging 
down the dusty and crooked road of our history to 
search for new" scenes and new events. We shall not 
again see our people so joyous and elated, nor find 
a year wherein so much was planned and achieved 
for the public good. But the journey is long, and it 
is not our purpose to linger in the pleasant places, nor 
to cull many flowers by the way, but rather to gather 
up and arrange the facts which so plentifully bestrew 
our course. So on w^e go in the pursuit of facts. 

1836, the brightest year of our history, saw, upon 
its closing night, the streets of Auburn illuminated for 
the first time with oil lamps, as if in honor of its de- 
parture. The village entered ]3eacefully upon another 
year. Never were its people more prosperous and 
contented, never were there so few among them that 
were idle or needy, never was the future more inviting. 
Ambitious citizens, looking through the vista of on- - 



GENEKAL PROGRESS. 209 

coming years, believed that they saw Aaburn at no 
great distance a mighty and wealth}'- city, spreading 
even to the shores of the Owasco, and glittering with 
the spires of magnificent buildings, among which was 
the lofty dome of the Capitol. But already was that 
gathering at the horizon, which should reverse this 
picture. Scarce was 1837 inaugurated, before a finan- 
cial storm of unprecedented severity appeared in the 
sky, and, bursting, swiftly prostrated the prosperity of 
Auburn, yes, and of the State. Without the ability 
to stay its progress, our citizens saw the storm advance 
and overtake their bright schemes one by one, and 
leave them in ruins. In the ardor of enterprise they 
had laid aside the cloak of caution, and were unpre- 
pared for the revelation. This year was, therefore, in 
Auburn, a period of business reverses and calamities. 
But misfortunes are gregarious ; they were piloted in 
the present case by a conflagration. 

On the night of Saturday, January 21st, the streets 
of the viUage became quiet at an unusually early hour. 
It was bitterly cold, and a snow-storm from the north- 
east was raging furiously. A deep snow covered the 
ground. Half an hour before midnight, a couple of 
citizens, making their way through the storm to their 
lodgings, discovered a strong light issuing from a little 
wooden building, next west of the stone hardware-store 
of Hyde, "Watrous & Co., used by Norman Bennett for 
the sale of dry goods. Discovering that the shop was 
12 



210 HISTORY OF A-tliURN. 

burning, they gave the alarm. The bells summoned the 
citizens of the town and the fire and bucket companies 
to the scene, and a vigorous attempt was made to arrest 
the progress of the fire. The intense cold prevented 
this. The water in the hose was quickly frozen, and 
the engines rendered useless ; and in spite of the best 
efiforts of the hook and ladder men, and the use of the 
buckets, the flames, fanned by the gale, rolled through 
the wooden row west of the starting-point almost as 
fast as a man could walk. In three hours, fourteen 
buildings were in ashes. By good management, the 
brick stores of Steel & Groot, and Horace Hills, on 
the corner of North Street, were saved. Those con- 
sumed, in order, were the elegant store of Hyde, Wat- 
rous & Co., ISTorman Bennett's dry goods store, Eras- 
tus Pease's shoe-shop, H. C. Pease's looking-glass shop, 
Maltbie & Camp's wooden dry goods store, Daniel F. 
Cock's comb store, Cooley & Rathbun's brick drj 
.goods store, Munger & Perry's diy goods, Benjamin 
Ashby's grocery, J. S. Bartlett & Co.'s dry goods, T. 
M. Hunt's drug-store, Upton, Bennett & Co.'s saddler- 
tshop, Bemis & Leonard's restaurant, and D. C. Stew- 
art's dry goods store, the latter being demolished with 
gunpowder to check the fire. These stores were for 
the most part low wooden structures, old, and highly 
inflammable ; a fire among which would have been diffi- 
cult to control, under the best of circumstances. The 
glare of this conflagration was visible nearly twenty 



OENEEAL PKOGKESS. 211 

?niles. The heat of the burning buildings was intense, 
and inflicted considerable damage upon the Exchange 
block across the way, which was repeatedly set on fire. 

The total losses of property by this unfortunate 
event were estimated at one hundred thousand dollars. 
The inflammable character of the buildings in this row, 
bowever, having long before excited apprehension, the 
merchants occupying them had generally provided for 
this very emergency by securing large amounts of in- 
surance both on their wares and the shops. It is said 
that a few of the store-keepers were gainers by the 
fire. But the majority sui3Fered severely. The suspen- 
sion of their business, with their losses, and the ap- 
proach of hard times soon afterwards, was a stunning 
blow. Few were able to sustain their misfortune, and 
their dejection added to the general gloom in the busi- 
ness circles of Auburn during the ensuing summer. 

This fire was, notwithstanding, an advantage to 
Auburn. It was time that the north side of Genesee 
Street should be embellished with something of a 
higher order than a row of wooden shops. The ob- 
portunity was now afforded, and was improved with- 
out delay. The firm of Hyde & Co., composed of 
Joseph B. Hyde, John L. Watrous, Albert Walcott, 
Cyrus C. Dennis, and Thomas M. Hunt, erected at 
once a cut-stone store-house upon the old foundations ; 
and Charles Bemis, Monsieur Jacob Leonard, and 
John H. ^Beach began a magnificent block, four 



212 HISTOKY OF AUBUKN. 

stories in height, in the western part of the burnt dis- 
trict, tlie moment that the spring opened. The west 
end of the block was, finished in Jnlj, and occupied by 
its energetic proprietors as a dining-hall and confec- 
tionary store. The rest wa-s completed soon after- 
ward. The whole of the burnt district was built over 
in a very few years. 

The premonitions of tlie financial storm of '37 were 
first heard upon the assembling of the Legislatnre, on the 
first Monday of January. Most of the Banks in the State 
then represented to that body that they were jio distress 
by reason of the inabOity of their customers to take up 
their discounted paper ; that they had very little 
specie in their vaults, and were unable to procure 
more, from the fact that the country had been drained 
to meet balances due abroad upon an excessive import 
trade ; and that they could not redeem their bills in 
specie ; and they requested that they should be protected 
by the Legislature in suspending specie payments, since 
they would otherwise be obliged to go into liquidation. 
The extension of unlimited credit to their customers 
by the Banks, and by all dealers in merchandise, 
wholesale and retail, had been a characteristic feature 
of 1836. This disclosure to the Legislature informed all 
debtors that the}'- had nothing more to expect from the 
Banks ; and the receipt of an avalanche of letters call- 
ing upon them for payment of existing indebtedness, 
•apprised them that the day of reckoning had come. 



GENERAL PKOGRESS. ' 213 

On the lOtli day of May, the Banks at Albany and 
ISTew York suspended specie payments. A terriHe 
panic was the result. The commotion, not confined 
to the great cities, was immediately felt in Auburn. 
Specie vanished from circulation in a moment. It 
was impossible for the Banks here to withstand a pres- 
sure that had mastered the monetary institutions of 
the metropolis. They were exceedingly distressed. 
They accordingly appealed to the people to sustain 
them in following the example of the Banks in New 
York. The trustees of the corporation met at their 
room on the 12th to consider what the times required 
them to do. Ninety-six merchants and business men 
of the town having agreed in writing to receive the 
bills of the Auburn Banks at par at their stores, the 
trustees recommended the institutions to suspend specie 
payments, directing that their bills should be taken 
in payment of all village taxes, and pledging the re- 
sponsibility of the village for their ultimate redemp- 
tion. A public meeting of the inhabitants was held 
at the town hall, the same day. Robert Muir, Pres- 
ident of the village, presided ; Stephen A. Goodwin 
was secretary. The citizens resolved to sustain the 
Banks of the place. They furthermore appointed a 
committee, consisting of Nathaniel Garrow, Asaph D. 
Leonard, Warren T. Worden, Ira Hopkins, and Ste- 
phen A. Goodwin, to impress upon the Legislature the 
necessity of restraining the Banks of the State from issu- 



214 HISTORY OF AUBURN. 

ing one, two, and three dollar notes, and to ask lenien- 
cy for the action of the Banks here in suspending re- 
demption of their bills in specie. The committee was 
successful in its eiforts. Suspension was granted for 
one year. 

The banking institutions of Auburn were aided in a 
measure by this action, but not materially the people. 
During the month of May, the latter found themselvea 
almost entirely deprived of any circulating medium of 
a denomination less than five dollars. The dearth of 
the means of making small change closed the door, for 
a time, upon all sorts of small dealing in family sup- 
plies, store trade, and the employment of wood-chop- 
pers and day-laborers. Wide-spread suffering in the 
village, among all classes, was the consequence. Busi- 
ness was almost suspended. The trustees found them- 
selves, in this emergency, impelled to provide some 
remedy for the popular distress. They accordingly 
authorized the immediate issue of eight thousand dol- 
lars in checks or notes of the size of one, two, and three 
dollars, and sent them into circulation from the stores 
of Robert Muir, Henry Ivison, Jr., and ITehemiah D. 
Carhart, retaining the funds arising from their sale ex- 
pressly for their redemption. Following the example of 
other companies, the Auburn and Syracuse Railroad 
Company ventured at the same time to issue twenty- 
thousand dollars in checks, on its own treasurer, of de- 
nominations varying between twenty cents and one del- 



GENERAL PEOGEESS. 215 

lar, with the assurance that the merchants of Auburn 
would receive them at a slight discount for supplies ; 
and paid off the construction hands with them in lieu of 
money. Like the same forms of currency issued in 
colonial times, these checks were called " shinplasters." 
They passed readily in the town for change. The 
stringency of the money market induced an issue of 
shinplasters from many other parties, on their private 
accounts. During the summer, Emanuel D. Hudson, 
then a contractor for furnishing rations to convicts in 
the prison, found it necessary to resort to an issue of 
checks to carry on his business. To give them credit 
he put them in the form of promissory notes, payable 
in specie on demand, when presented in sums of five 
dollars or over, at his office on Genesee Street ; and he 
indicated his ability to pay specie for them, by procur- 
ing five hundred dollars worth of coin, and keeping it 
well ^.displayed in his front window. He issued ten 
thousand dollars of this paper, which was always re- 
deemed in gold and silver, when demanded, and had 
in consequence most excellent credit, not only here, 
but in the country far around. The Auburn Paper 
Mill Company, also, and Asaph D. Leonard & Co., 
Charles Coventry & Co., and other leading milling and 
business houses, imitated the example, and issued simi- 
lar notes. It was estimated that during the summer of 
1837, four-fifths of the circulating medium in Auburn, 
then amounting to two hundred thousand dollars, con- 



216 HI8TOKY 0¥ AUBUKN. 

sisted of shinplasters, about one-fom-th of wliich was in 
time lost or worn out, and the rest faithfully redeemed. 

The long continued pressure of the times in Auburn, 
and the scarcity of money, resulted in a ruinous depre- 
ciation of property. A. part at least of the prosperity 
of Auburn was fictitious. The gentlemen wlio liad 
invested their fortunes so largely in real estate, at high 
prices, were the first to feel the severity of the panic. 
Their property gradually lost its value, till, in many in- 
stances, it would bring no more than one-sixth of what 
it had been bought for twelve months before. The 
reaction left capitalists helpless to save their invest- 
ments. All lost large sums of money, and many made 
deplorable failures. Business was checked in all its 
departments. A general reduction of expenses by the 
citizens followed, and threw large numbers of work- 
men and mechanics out of employment, and suffered 
the distress of the times to fall heavily upon all the in- 
dustrial classes. 

These occurrences gave the death-blow to enterprise 
in Auburn. All schemes requiring the outlay of large 
sums of money became, in the summer of 1837, business 
impossibilities. The leaders in the generous move- 
ments for new avenues, boulevards, and parks, in the 
Auburn College project, in the matter of canal navi- 
gation to the Susquehanna, and in a scheme for erect- 
ing certain woolen and flouring mills on the outlet, 
became deeply involved in the general embarrassment ; 



GENERAL PEOGKBSS. 21 T 

and though they struggled liard to maintain them- 
selves, they were forced to give up all of these enter- 
prises, except the railroad, and attend to extricating 
themselves from their business complications. The 
formation of two projected railroad companies, one to 
connect Auburn with Sodus Bay, and the other to 
build a road to Ithaca, was abandoned as hopeless. A 
company, known as the Auburn Hydraulic Associa- 
tion, composed of Nathaniel Garrow, Dr. Kichard 
Steel, John Seymour, George B. Throop, and their 
associates, which had been incorporated for the pur- 
pose of constructing a canal from Barber's dam west- 
ward, along the south bank of the outlet, to the cotton 
mill, for hydraulic purposes and to work a stone 
quarry, unable to proceed, was also abandoned. It is 
not necessary to enter more minutely into the effects 
of the panic in Auburn, to show the fearful reaction 
in every circle, and the sudden stop to which every 
enterprise was brought in 183T. The town was pros- 
trated ; and for the next five years received scarce an 
accession to its population in any other manner than 
by births. It was quite apparent that the visions of 
many of our sanguine citizens, expressed on the occa- 
sion of the big-dam celebration, were not to be real- 
ized. 

The town hall was finished in 1837, at a cost of 
thirty thousand dollars. By ordinances adopted June 
15th, all the butchers of the village were required to 



218 HISTORY OF AUBUEN. 

rent stalls in the lower story of this building, and ex- 
pose their meats for sale there. Vegetable wagons 
were required to rendezvous on the sides of the square 
in front of the town hall, until nine o'clock A, M. 
A village officer, styled the clerk of the market, was ap- 
pointed to enforce the market laws and bring suits for 
their non-observance. The market system continued 
in force in Auburn till 1845, when John E. Patten 
having with great boldness opened a market in another 
place in the village, a question arose as to the sound- 
ness of the town ordinances on this subject. In a law- 
suit brought by the trustees against Mr. Patten, the 
courts declared these ordinances invalid, and the 
butchers soon afterward left the market, which was 
then for several years unused, except occasionally for 
the packing of pork. The stalls were subsequently re- 
moved, and the building fitted up for a school. 

One pleasant day during the summer of 1837, our 
community was painfully excited by the rumors of a 
distressing accident at Owasco Lake. It was Satur- 
day, the 24:th of June. Four students at the Theologi- 
cal Seminary, Hannibal Smith, of Johnson, Wm. P. 
Tuttle, of Newark, ]^. J ., Wm. Woodbridge, of Stock- 
bridge, Mass., and Simeon S. Johnson, of Monroe 
County, N. Y., had gone out with a lad of fifteen, a 
son of H. C. Witherell, for a sail. They were floating 
upon the tranquil bosom of the lake, about half a mile 
fi-om the shore, when they were suddenly capsized by 



GENEEAL PK0GBE8S. 21^ 

a white squall, and all sank immediately to the bot- 
tom, except young Witherell, who, supported by an 
oar and the rudder, managed to reach the land in 
safety. Word of the event was conveyed at once to 
Auburn. The students were well known and univer- 
sally respected. A large number of citizens set out 
for the lake, therefore, without delay, and began a 
search for the bodies, which was not remitted till the 
following Saturday. All were buried at the ISTorth 
Street cemetery, on the 2d of July. The address of 
Dr. Samuel H. Cox on this occasion is still remem- 
bered as one of the most solemn and impressive dis- 
courses ever delivered in Auburn. 

June of 1837 witnessed the opening of two water- 
cure establishments near this village ; one on the farm 
of TTelson Yan Ness, on the road to Cayuga, and four 
miles west of Auburn, and the other on the property 
of Isaac Selover and David Sears, about a mile north- 
east of the prison ; as well as the opening of the Au- 
burn Female Seminary, under the charge of E. Hos- 
mer, Esq., and Lady, on the corner of Genesee and 
Washington Streets. The latter institution drew a 
large attendance from the first, beginning with an 
hundred and forty students. It was destroyed by fire 
in 1849. 

A Presbyterian convention, called in consequence of 
certain acts of the previous General Assembly at Phila- 
delphia, exscinding the Synods of Utica, Geneva, and 



220 HISTORY OF AUBURN. 

Genesee, in New York, and Western Reserve, in Ohid, 
met at the Presbyterian Church in Auburn, Thursday, 
August 17th, 1837. Present were representatives 
from the districts named, and others sympathizing, to 
the number of about two hundred. Dr. Richards, of 
the Seminaiy, was President of the convention. The 
Yice-Presidents were the Rev. I. H. Hotchkin and Dr. 
Penny; and B. C. Johnson and Henry Brown, Esqs., 
Rev. E. T. Edwards, of Rochester, and E. W. Chester, 
Esq., of Cincinnati, were secretaries. The convention 
sat by adjournment till Monday, and adjourned pre- 
cisely at four o'clock P. M., after singing the 137th 
Psalm. A Committee of Correspondence was created, 
with Dr. Richards for chairman, to act till the next ses- 
sion of the General Assembly. There was little or no 
supei-iiuous oratory in the convention. Everything 
spoken was an arrow shot straight to the mark. Sev- 
eral discourses came from divines of great celebrity, 
such as Drs. Beecher, McAuley, Hillyer, Patton, and 
Peters, and were admirable for their moderation, lu- 
cidness, and eloquence. " 

Business and travel upon the railroad to Syracuse 
began on the 8th of January, 1838, the line having 
then been finished to the Erie Canal, a distance of 
twenty-three miles from Auburn, and within two miles 
of the present terminus. The freight depot was, a 
year or two later, erected upon a lot donated for the 
purpose by Allen "Warden. It is the same building 



GENERAL PEOGEESS, 221 

now used by Ed. R. Richardson for livery purposes. 
The track between the two depots, which was laid in 
opposition to the wishes of the officers of the Presby- 
terian Church, ran through Garden and Eranklin 
Streets, and was in after years abandoned and taken 
up, by reason of the difficulty of rounding its sharp 
corner with loaded cars. The present passenger and 
freight depot was erected for the accommodation of 
the roads to Rochester and to Syracuse, in 1841. It 
was once proposed to build the depot on the site of 
the old Columbian Garden. The church opposite de- 
feated this. 

The first excursion train to Syrapuse left Auburn 
on January the 8th before mentioned. It was drawn 
by horses under a contract with the energetic Colonel 
John M. Sherwood. The second party of excursion- 
ists visited Syracuse June 4:th, 18,39, to celebrate the 
completion of the road the whole distance. This time 
the trip was made with an engine. After the exchange 
of preliminary courtesies, the railroad went into op- 
eration, and met with a degree of success that put its 
old adversaries to shame, and changed their opposition 
to admiration. It was in fact impossible to withhold 
wonder of the things accomplished by the talent and 
spirit of the officers of the railroad company. The 
impediments that they had overcome in laying the 
road, in paying their workmen during the hard times, 
in removing the incredulity of the public, and in sur- 



222 HISTORY OF AUBURN. 

mounting the embarrassments of inexperience, were 
prodigious. Some of these were unexpected, and 
found the officers unprepared. But the railroad men 
had faith and resolution. Thej clearly perceived that 
tJie original idea of a direct road from Syracuse to 
Rochester would be a distressing calamity to this town. 
Spurred by the consciousness that the salvation of 
Auburn depended in this crisis upon the spirit of her 
own citizens, they clung to their enterprise, urged it 
forward, and advocated it with a determination that 
gained the road, forced the people of Rochester to lay 
another — which was opened IS^ovember 4th, 1841 — 
between that place and this to secure a connection, 
and wrought the happiest results in reviving the busi- 
ness and activity of the place. The direct road was 
indeed constructed in 1850, but the main point had been 
gained, and the new line was then of no small benefit 
to Auburn, since it relieved the village of the roar of 
heavy trains that were merely passing through without 
adding a jot to the business or wealth of our citizens. 
During the summer and winter of 1838, the manage- 
ment of the prison at Auburn arrested public attention. 
A necessity for increased discipline in this institution 
had led to the appointment of a veteran of the war of 
1812, named Captain Elam Lynds, as agent, who, in 
accordance with certain notions, peculiar to himself, 
had changed the table system of feeding the convicts 
to that of eatins: stinted rations in their cells, without 



GENERAL PKOGBESS. 223 

knife or fork. This practice, it was observed, forced 
many toothless and feeble old men to eat their food in 
an unnatural manner, and in a state unfit for digestion. 
The privations of this system made the convicts dis- 
orderly, and rendered the free use of the lash necessary 
to enforce the rules of the shops. The keepers used 
this merciless correction to an undue extent. The 
honest sympathy of the citizens was aroused. Health 
and humanity declared against the brutal treatment 
of the convicts. Petitions, signed by eight hundred 
persons, were laid before the inspectors of the prison 
at their stated meeting in January, 1839, requesting 
the dismissal of the agent. These petitions were 
refused. The excitement was heightened thereby. 
The grand jury took the matter in hand, and indicted 
the agent of the prison for violently and inhumanly 
" beating, bruising, wounding, and ill-treating" the 
prisoners, and for " causing to be withheld from the 
convicts a quantity of food necessary to their health and 
comfort." The indictment was quashed, but the public 
mind was still disturbed. Two public meetings were 
held in Auburn to devise a remedy for the evils in 
view. Both passed censorious resolutions, but the in- 
spectors chose to regard them as political merely, and 
so disregarded them. At length an affair occurred 
that roused the community to a dangerous state of 
exasperation. A convict, by the name of Louis Yon 
Eck, a Grerman physician, who had been sentenced for 



224 HISTORY OF AUBURN. 

forgery, bad for some time been afflicted with a disease 
of the hmgs, and, on the 8tb of April, be suddenly ex- 
pired upon a bed in the prison hospital,"under circum- 
stances that seemed to require legal investigation. A 
coroner's jury was summoned to examine the case. It 
then became known that Yon Eck had been the victim 
of repeated floggings, administered on account of his 
complaints of sickness and inability to work, under the 
pretence that he was shamming ; and that the fatal 
termination of his malady had been hastened by 
neglect and general harsh treatment. These facts 
created a violent commotion in Auburn. The people 
were indignant, and righteously ; though it is but 
justice to say, that the intense feeling they manifested 
against the officers of the prison was unduly heightened 
by the efforts of politicians, who were working to de- 
throne those officers for party ends. 

Whatever the cause of the feeling, the people were 
irresistible, and the agent and two inspectors of the 
prison found it necessary to resign, in order to restore 
tranquillity. Hon. Joseph L. Richardson, Seneca B. 
Dennis, Freeborn vr. Jewett, Joshua Hoskins, and Ho- 
ratio G. Yan Dusen, then composed the board. The 
first two resigned, and Henry Polhemus and Robert 
Cook were appointed in their stead. Dr. IlToyes 
Palmer was appointed agent on the 9th of May, 1839. 
The table system of eating was then resumed in the 
prison, and the community was appeased. 



GEKKKAL PEOGKESS. 225 

This struggle, however, between prison discipline 
and the public, infused into the political campaign of 
the fall of 1838, in this country, an unparalleled bit- 
terness of party feeling, and created the necessity of a 
temporary weekly newspaper, entitled The Corrector^ 
to defend the prison authorities. The Chronicles^ of 
the prison, " by Ezra the Scribe," an anonymous 
periodical, was published about the same time by op- 
ponents of a severe prison system. The disturbance 
seems to have been comparatively local, but it lost the 
election for the Democratic party of Cayuga County. 

The part borne by the people of Auburn in the- 
Patriot War cannot be passed by in silence. The Par- 
liaments of both the Canadas having for several years 
disagreed with their respective Lieutenant-Governors 
on vital questions of reform, which there at last seemed 
to be no peaceable way to settle, a revolutionary pro- 
vincial convention had assembled in Toronto, under 
the lead of W. L. Mackenzie, an editor of that city, 
Yan Egmont, of Kingston, and others, and had put 
forth an address, calling upon the people of Canada to 
rise, and remove those who oppressed the country. 
The convention proposed to organize a new and more 
economical government, and generally " to make 
crooked paths straight, and rough places plain," Mack- 
enzie proceeded to do this by gathering a large military 
force in the provinces, with which he made a demonstra- 
tion on Toronto on the 4th-7th of December, 1837. Be- 
13 



226 HISTORY OF AUBURN. 

ing unexpectedly discomfited, he came to the United 
States, to raise, if possible, a force sufficient to compel a 
submission to the matters complained of by the provincial 
convention. In the event of a contumacious refusal, he 
proposed to subvert the Canadian government. He 
traversed the border country, all the way from Detroit to 
St. Albans, appealing in various ways to the patriotic 
sympathies of the American people, and pointing to 
numerous insurrections in the great cities of the Cana- 
das, as evidence that the people there would spring to 
arms the moment they descried the approach of auxili- 
ary aid from the States. Mackenzie, while on this 
j ourney, stopped at Auburn. Making the acquaintance 
of Colonel John Richardson, Ebenezer B. Cobb, Major 
E,oyal P. Stone, Captain John T. Baker, Colonel 
Joshua Ward, Captain Lawrence White, E. Price Sen- 
ter, Thomas F. Monroe, Asa Priest, Oliver Lawton, 
Bemis Woodbury, Sidney Somerick, Gardener Stone, 
and H. IS". Thompson, he induced them, with about 
seven hundred others, to organize a lodge here of patri- 
ots, self-styled " Eeubens," pledged to come to the as- 
sistance of the Canadians, in case they obtained no re- 
dress from their government for their grievances. 
The oro-anization was a secret one. Colonel Ward was 
the first presiding officer. Meetings were held in the 
upper rooms of the building then kept by Bemis & 
Leonard as an inn, the same now owned by Elmore 
P. Ross, and kept by Solomon IST. Chappel. Mackenzie 



GENERAL PEOGEESS. 227 

'-brought with him, for adoption, a provisional constitu- 
tion for a republican government, to be set up in 
Canada in the event of a successful revolution. The 
lodge at his request adopted this document, and, in 
March, 1838, elected Thomas F. Monroe Member of 
Congress, to represent its members in any meeting 
of the provisional Congress. Mr. Monroe met with 
that body soon afterward, in a session held in Cleve- 
land. 

The summer of 1838 was improved by the lodges 
of this State along the border, in elFecting a military 
organization, with General Von Shoultz, a Polish offi- 
cer, then residing at Salina, Onondaga County, for 
commander-in-chief; Colonels Ward, Sutherland, 
Birgs, Pierce, and Bill Johnson, were commandants 
of regiments. A rising in Canada apprised General 
Yon Shoultz that the favorable moment had arrived. 
He accordingly issued orders to the forces within his 
command, to assemble at Cape Yincent and other 
points on the St. Lawrence Eiver, on the 7th day of 
November, which was the third day of the annual State 
election. This allowed the men to vote before leav- 
ing their homes. On the day appointed. Colonel 
Ward, with between thirty and forty members of the 
Eeuben lodge, joined a large body of Patriots in Os- 
wego, and took passage with them in two lake schoon- 
ers, both bearing the name of Charlotte, and distin- 
guished as the big and little, to Miller's Bay, where 



228 HISTOKY OF AUBUKN. 

they were overtaken by Captains Baker, and White, 
from Auburn, and numerous others. 

On Sunday, the 10th of November, this party re- 
ceived orders from the commander for a stealthy as- 
sault that night on the Canadian town of Prescott^ 
which Von Shoultz had been assured he could capture 
without discovery or resistance. The order was re- 
sponded to promptly, and the Patriots, in tow of the 
steamer United States, proceeded toward Prescott, 
and gained the wharf in perfect silence. But as the 
party was about to land, an alarm gun was fired, from 
which Yon Shoultz perceived that the movement was 
discovered. "Withdrawing his transports, therefore, he 
dropped down to Windmill Point, a few miles be- 
low, and landed with the forces on the little Charlotte. 

The big Charlotte ran aground at this critical pe- 
riod, and being menaced next day by the British war 
steamer, Experiment, was in a position of imminent 
danger. The United States tried to tow the schooner 
off, but the tow-rope broke and the effort failed. The 
steamer than turned upon the Exjperim^nt, which 
was beginning to make tlie situation uncomfortable by 
a vigorous cannonade, and assayed to run that craft 
down, and would have done so had not a cannon-ball 
from the latter carried away her pilot's head, and forced 
her to run ashore at Ogdensburg. The Paid Pry then 
made an effort to take the men off the stranded 
schooner, l)ut was obliged to retire, leaving five men 



GENERAL PE0GEE8S. 229 

still on tlie big Charlotte^ among wliom were Colonel 
Ward, E. P. Senter, and Sidney Somerick. The Ex- 
jperiinfient then approached the schooner, pouring in as 
she advanced a hot fire of grape and solid shot, which 
was returned with musketry, and with one shot from 
an iron six-pounder, the only piece of ordnance the 
schooner carried. That shot disabled eleven British 
soldiers. The Exjperiment fled, while the Charlotte^ 
loosened by the jar, quickly joined the Patriot forces 
at Ogdensburg, 

A body of about two hundred men, among whom 
were E, Price Senter, Oliver Lawton, Asa Priest, and 
Bemis Woodbury, now gathered at Windmill Point, 
in the stone mill, and in another stone building ad- 
jacent, and waited for the promised uprising of the 
Canadians. On Tuesday, the position was assaulted 
by an overwhelming force of Canadian militia and reg- 
ulars ; and after valiantly defending themselves for 
several hours, and killing and wounding upwards of 
one hundred and fifty royalists, the Patriots were 
compelled to surrender, and one hundred and fifty-six 
of their number were sent to Kingston, for trial by 
court martial. The four Auburn men were among 
the prisoners. Lawton was wounded. The rest of 
the Auburn party received a visit soon afterward 
from Nathaniel Garrow, U. S. Marshal, who came 
down from Cape Yincent with Colonel Worth of the 
U. S. Army, and a company of regulars. Some of the 



230 IIISTOKY OF AUBDKN. 

Patriots were brought, and the rest induced, to returm 
home. 

This ended botli tlie movement against Canada from 
the northern frontier, and the proceedings of the Au- 
burn lodge. The prisoners taken at Windmill Point 
were all subsequently tried by court martial, con- 
victed, and sentenced to suffer death. But after the- 
lapse of five or six months, and at the request of Hon, 
William II, Seward, then Governor of the State, who- 
made an appeal to the clemency of the royal govern- 
ment in their behalf, Senter and Lawton were par- 
doned, and permitted to return home, while the sen- 
tences of Woodbury and Priest were commuted to- 
banishment for twenty-five years. The last named, 
died on shipboard on his way to Van Dieman's Land. 
Woodbury suffered the full term of his exile, and re- 
turned to Cayuga County in good health about five 
years ago. 

During the summer following these events, the- 
Whigs of Auburn were thrown one day into an extra- 
ordinary flutter, by rumors of the approach of the dis- 
tinguished statesman, Henry Clay. The eloquent 
Senator was then making a tour through the United 
States, and his course Avas leading him toward this, 
village. Preparations for his entertainment were- 
therefore made by his political admirers, a large dele- 
gation of whom, on horseback and in carriages, was. 
sent to the county line at Cayuga bridge to greet him^ 



GENERAL PROGKESS. 231 

He arrived in Auburn July 20th, 1839. About two 
thousand of the honest yeomanry of the county were 
assembled to welcome the great orator, and their 
hearty hurrahs must have convinced him of their 
genuine gratification. Mr. Clay was form ally received 
at the American Hotel, upon a little platform erected 
for the purpose, by Parliament Bronson, Esq., in behalf 
of the citizens. Mr. Bronson made the following 
address : 

" Sir : I have accepted from the people of this village the grate- 
ful office of tendering to you, in their behalf, the hospitalities of the 
place. The prominence of your public life, for the last thirty 
years, has rendered your name familiar to all. Your principles 
of public policy have been drawn from the spirit of the Constitu- 
tion, and aim at the ' greatest good of the greatest number.' In 
advocating and defending those principles through all the vicissi- 
tudes of hope and fear, of light and of gloom, you have exhibited 
a perseverance which never despaired of the republic, aiad an 
ability which has won the admiration of all. Most of all. Sir, 
have we admired that frank and fearless independence, that un- 
bending integrity, which have led you, under all circumstances, 
and above all disguises, boldly to maintain the convictions of your 
own judgment, regardless, apparently, of all personal conse- 
quences to yourself, with a single eye to your country's good. 
This it is that constitutes the patriot. In another aspect. Sir, 
you have merited, in a pre-eminent degree, the gratitude of your 
country. More than ouce, when conflicting interests and con- 
tending passions have threatened the Union with disruption, and 
brought the nation seemingly to the verge of fatal convulsions, 
your happy influence has interposed, and calmed the raging ele- 
ments, and restored the wonted blessings of peace and harmony. 
It is pleasing to render tbe homage of grateful hearts to merit so 



232 HISTORY OF auburn. 

illustrious, aaid to patriotism so pure and exalted. Sir, we bid 
you a cordial welcome to this village. We welcome you as the 
distinguished friend and advocate of a liberal policy, and of pro- 
tection to the cardinal interests of the country. We greet j'ou as 
the patriot and statesman, whom mankind have delighted to 
honor, and may you long continue to enjoy that well-earned 
fame, alone desirable, which ' follows the pursuit of noble ends 
by noble means.' 

" Allow me, now, Sir, to introduce to this assembled multitude, 
the man to whose mere baptismal name no title could impart 
additional honor, however much it might contribute to his coun- 
try's glory — Henry Clay." 

Mr. Clay replied, alluding in his peculiar manner to 
tlie questions of the past, particularly those with which 
his name was connected, and dwelling at some length 
upon the political topics of the day. His eloquent 
discourse delighted and held the crowd spell-bound to 
the close, when he w-as compelled to suffer the usual 
and eminently republican infliction of a general hand- 
shaking. Mr. Clay remained in town till the next 
morning and then departed for Syracuse with a large 
number of friends, in an extra train of five coaches. 
The character of his reception here evidently reflected 
the motives of the great statesman in making this tour 
through the States. The motives were plainly of a 
more ambitious nature than those of a mere traveler. 
While this celebration was truly a pleasant episode in 
our town's history, its splendor was nothing compared 
with that of a demonstration in the fall of the same 
year, in honor of the President of the republic. 



GETSTERAL PKC^GKESS, , 233 

Martin Van Bnven was the first of the Presidents 
that ever paid Auburn the honor of a visit. When it 
became known, therefore, that he was traveling through 
the repubhc, and that he was to take Auburn in his 
course, the unusual honor created a corresponding ex- 
citement in the town and in the county. Suitable 
measures were taken to extend a proper reception to 
the distinguished man. Upon the 9th of September, 
he arrived at Auburn, escorted by a procession a mile 
and a half long ; and was greeted with the thunder of 
cannon, and the deafening cheers of five thousand peo- 
ple. After a march through the various streets, Mr. 
Yan Buren was addressed at the American Hotel, by 
Mr. Eathbun. In terms of sincere pleasure the Presi- 
dent was welcomed to Auburn, and introduced to the 
people, who testified their gratification by long-con- 
tinued cheers. Mr. Yan Buren's reply has been pre- 
served. He said : 

" You could not, Sir, have added more eflFectually to the gratifi- 
cation which I derive from the proceedings of this day, than by 
the information v^hich you have been pleased to impart to me, 
that this vast assembly of citizens is, in so great a degree, com- 
posed of farmers, mechanics, and laboring men, from all parts of 
this flourishing county. Certainly no liberal-minded or just man 
will contend that either virtue or patriotism are confined to any 
particular class or calling. It may, nevertheless, be affirmed with 
entire confidence, and without disparagement to others, that the 
farmers, mechanics, and laboring men of this favored land consti- 
tute a body of citizens, on whom any public servant may implic- 
itly rely for a just and fair appreciation of his official conduct, our 



234 HISTORY OF AUBURN. 

country for an adequate defense in every emergency, and our po- 
litical institutions for ample security against every combination 
that can be formed against them. There are influences arising 
from their condition and pursuits, which beget a peculiarly eager, 
disinterested love of truth, and which exempt them, in a good de- 
gree, from those sudden impulses, to which those who move in 
the more excitable walks of life are more frequently liable, and 
which, though sometimes leading to great actions, are oftener the 
, prolific source of error ; and they are from these causes so much 
better enabled to make a deliberate and unprejudiced application 
of the information they acquire, that their decisions are always 
upright, and, if erroneous, never long adhered to. These are, 
with me, not the impressions of the day, but the convictions of 
my public life — convictions which have been present and consol- 
ing to my mind in many trials. Entertaining such opinions of 
those who, with a mass of others enjoying also my entire respect 
and regard, are here to do me honor as the constituted head of 
their political system, and the representative of their principles^ 
it can scarcely be necessary to say how deeply I feel, and how 
highly I estimate the very favorable opinion which you have ex-' 
pressed, in their behalf, of my public career. Allow me, Sir, to 
return to them, through you, my sincerest acknowledgements for 
the assurances of approbation of the past, and of support for the 
future, which you have made for them. The former is before 
them ; in regard to the latter, my views have been again and 
again distinctly and fully stated to my countrymen. They need, 
I trust, no further evidence to satisfy them, that opinions con- 
scientiously entertained will be supported by me, with deference- 
certainly to the conflicting views of others, but with that fidelity 
and steadiness by which good results can alone be accomplished. 
For the welcome which you have conveyed to me in behalf of my 
fellow-citizens of Cayuga, here assembled, except my thanks, with 
the assurance that I reciprocate heartily the feelings of respect and 
regard which you have expressed, both for them and for yourself." 



GENEEAL PE0GKES8. 236' 

The President, having bronglit his remarks to a 
close, saw before him several thousand extended hands 
demanding the time-honored democratic shake. Giv- 
ing the hard fists each a grip, he withdrew to the ho- 
tel, and received calls from Hon. "Wm. H. Seward and 
other prominent citizens of Auburn. With the Presi- 
dent were the Secretary of War, Poinsett, and Smith 
E. Yan Buren, his son, who were the guests of George 
B. Throop. The party left for Syracuse the following 
morning, in an extra train of the Dest cars upon the 
road. 

It is said that Auburn was more crowded with 
people upon the occasion of this visit, than upon any 
since the memorable day when La Fayette came here j 
but the Whigs stoutly, though good-humoredly, main- 
tained that the immense crowd was drawn forth, in 
part, by the arrival of a certain menagerie that day^ 
and the drill of a regiment of cavalry. 

Glancing over the leaves of our town's history for 
the three years beginning with the summer of 1839^ 
there will be observed a general monotony and dull- 
ness pervading all business and financial circles, which 
furnishes a touching comment upon the evils of specu- 
lation. Yet enterprise did something toward repair- 
ing the wasted resources and trade of the place ; and 
the railroad to Syracuse contributed, in no trifling de- 
gree, to sustain the drooping courage of our mer- 
chants, and to accelerate the return of better times. 



236 HISTORY OF AUBURN. 

The cniTcnt of travel through the village was very 
large, and the detention of passengers here, arising 
from the necessary trouble of shifting from the cars to 
the coach, or vice versa^ was the means of dropping 
many a dollar into the coffers of oar business men. 
Among other enterprises, based upon the business 
brought in b}'^ the railroad, the hotel, called the Au- 
burn House, may be mentioned as having reached a 
suecessftil conclusion. The house was thrown open to 
the public, by Messrs. A. D. Leonard and Robert 
Muir, during the month of August, 1839, and was 
managed under the direction of H. A. Chase, of Onon- 
<daga. It was a graceful, well-furnished building, 
always popular and deservedly successful. The stone 
stores, in the same block and upon each side, were en- 
titled the Merchants' Exchange. 

The Presidential campaign of 1840, one of the most 
keenly contested in the history of the republic, was 
remarkable for the frequency and enthusiasm of its po- 
litical mass-meetings and processions. The Whigs of 
^ew York were supporting the Hon. Wm. H. Seward 
for a second term of the Governorship of this State ; 
and the unbounded popularity of their candidate in 
Cayuga Comity, and their admiration for the hero of 
Tippecanoe, combined to render the campaign here 
most exciting. A "Whig carnival, instituted on the 
Sd of May, for the pm-pose of "warming" a log 
icabin that had been erected on the open ground at the 



GENERAL PEOGBESS. 23T 

corner of Genesee and Market Streets, now the site of 
John Percivars piano manufactory, exceeded all that 
had ever before occurred in Auburn for any object. 
The concourse of Whigs was immense, and it was with 
no small amount of hard riding up and down the 
streets, that they were finally marshaled into line, un- 
der the guidance of Colonel John Richardson, and his 
assistants, Benjamin Ashb}'-, Stephen O, Day, Philo B. 
Barnum, and Colonel G. T. Wilbur. With the inspir- 
ing strains of three fine bands, the procession made the- 
circuit of the village, displaying a forest of liberty- 
poles and banners, and several very extraordinary ob- 
jects which merit fuller notice. First, there was a 
loaf of " rye and Indian " bread, seven feet long, and 
two and a half wide, weighing five hundred and fifty- 
one pounds, from the bakery of T. Newcomb, 
mounted on a wagon. Then there was a log cabin of 
sugar in proper colors, the " logs in the rough," the 
slat chimney, and the inevitable old hat stuffed into a 
broken window, being represented true to life. And 
after this came, at suitable distances in the endless 
train of wagons, five genuine old-fashioned canoes, 
dubbed severally the Plough Bay^ the Hero of 
North Bend^ or some similar title appropriate to 
the campaign, intermingled with barrels of hard cider. 
The procession halted at the cabin, which was con- 
structed of rough logs chinked with clay, and had the 
usual appointments of a slab roof, slat chimney, and 



238 II [STORY OF AUBURN. 

wooden hinges, wooden latch and tow-string, stone 
fire-dogs in tlie fire-place, and trammel and chain 
hooks. The ceilings and walls were garnished with 
strings of dried apples and pumpkins, bunches of corn 
and peppers, coon-skins, saddles, muskets and shot-bags, 
and with pictures of Harrison, La Fayette, and other 
patriots, and a copy of the Declaration of Independ- 
ence. The cabin was then duly " warmed ; " a dinner 
and stump speeches followed, and the "Whigs of Cay- 
uga County returned to their homes greatly edified by 
the exercises of the day. 

Skipping for the moment the celebration on the 4th 
of July, two other immense mass-meetings of the 
Whigs will be mentioned. One, a ratification meeting, 
happened to fall on the 22d of August. The heavens 
were falling at the same time, but failed to quench the 
ardor of the demonstration. Six thousand people gath- 
ered upon Fort Hill to listen to a band of fine orators, 
being led to the spot in procession as fast as they arrived 
by S. O. Day, Marshal, and his assistants, Jesse Segoine, 
Stephen Yan Anden, P. B. Barnum and others. The 
meeting organized with Alfred Avery, of Genoa, as 
president ; Geo. W. Haynes, Wm. I. Cornwell, and 
Humphrey Howland, vice-presidents ; and Benj. F. 
Hall, John ISTiblo, and Geo. Humphreys, secretaries. 
The masses were then addressed by their popular M. 
C. — the Hon. Christopher Morgan — by Alfred Kelley, 
of Ohio, and the witty E. D. Culver, of "Washington 



GENERAL PR0GKES8. 239 

County, and others. After the adoption of fifteen in- 
tensely "Whig resolutions, reported by a committee of 
which Jacob R. Howe was chairman, the meeting dis- 
solved and went home. Another mass convention of 
a similar nature assembled in October, in Auburn, 
and was addressed at the Seminary grounds by the 
Hon. L. C. Tallmadge, Wm. C. Rives, of Virginia, and 
Hugh T. Legare, of S. C. 

The great national anniversary was, in 1840, ob- 
served with unusual festivities.; and the celebration, 
being conducted under the auspices of the Auburn Lit- 
erary Association — a popular young society organized 
only two years before, and. affording a neutral ground 
upon which both political parties could meet, was in 
every respect honorably managed and w^orthy of the 
town. A large procession was formed under the com- 
mand of Colonel Charles W. Pomeroy, Marshal of the 
day. This was graced by, among other things, the 
fire-engines of the village, finely adorned for the occa- 
sion, and the fire companies, who appeared in handsome 
new uniforms : the members of Co. ISTo. 1 being- 
clothed with green frock coats and white pants ; No. 
3, with beautiful suits composed of cadet caps, blue 
coats, and white pants ; and those of JSTo. 4, a company"^ 
made up of sturdy mechanics, being dressed in tar- 
paulin hats, red shirts, and black pants. Revolutionary 
soldiers, the professors of the Seminary and of the 
Academy, and the officers of the corporation were as- 



240 HISTORY OF AUBURN. 

signed places of distinction, (runs were lired, the bells 
rung, the letter of Adams and tlie Declaration read by 
II. Hills, Jr., in the Second Presbyterian Church, and an 
eloquent address pronounced by Luman Sherwood, Esq. 
The celebration dinner M^as spread at the Auburn 
House, and was presided over by Michael S. Myers. 
The jubilee closed with salutes and fireworks. The toasts 
drank at the dinner are still preserved. From about 
sixty, four are culled as having met with unusual favor : 
One, — The Fire Department : The only Espian phi- 
losophers that can make rain wlien they please, — drew 
forth six cheers and one gun. Another, by Colonel 
Pomeroy, — The Fire Companies^ JV^os. 1, 3, and 4; 
while the w^ater-god Neptune contends with the force 
of Niagara's streams, Hope beaming w^ith smiles 
stimulates both to exertion, — elicited not only one gun, 
but .eighteen cheers. Then this toast was offered — 
The Auburn Band : The bond of their union in har- 
mony, the result genuine notes ; may their harmony 
get them money and their notes current. Thirty 
cheers and one gun established the popularity of 
the Auburn Band. This sentiment succeeded — The 
American Bachelor : A ship without ballast, a mari- 
ner without a compass, an untamed goat, an off ox, a 
magnet without a loadstone, a one-liorse team, a bundle 
of odd ends ; may his pillow be lonely and drear, the 
ague throw o'er him its chill. Dranh loith cold water, 
sitting, and in silence. 



GENERAL PROGEESS. 2^1 

Tlie Auburn Literary Association was organized by 
the citizens of Aubnrn at a public meeting, held at 
the Western Exchange on the evening of the 12th of 
December, 1838, pursuant to previous notice. Stephen 
A. Goodwin was called to the chair, and Seneca B. 
Dennis was elected secretary of the meeting. A dis- 
cussion of the utility and purposes of the proposed or- 
ganization resulted in a resolution to put it into imme- 
diate operation. A draft of a constitution was pre- 
sented by Peter H. Myers, and adopted by the meeting. 
Under this the association M^^as the same evening 
formed. The gentlemen present appended their sig- 
natures to the constitution, and new members were re- 
quired to do the same. This roll soon comprised the 
names of nearly all the prominent citizens of Auburn,. 
Among the active members of the association, from 
time to time, were G. W. Foster, P. T. Marshall, 
Michael S. Myers, S. A. Hopkins, Edward Perry, 
Seneca B. Dennis, Benjamin F. Hall, Dr. Frank H. 
Hamilton, Dr. Blanchard Fosgate, Jacob A. Howe^ 
Josiali IST. Starin, John C. Ivison, Jacobj P.. Howe, 
Joseph C. Hyatt, Luman Sherwood, Dr. Erastus 
Humphreys, Owen Mmison, Peter II. Myers, Wil- 
liam Hopkins, William Pichardson, Edward Ivison, 
Alonzo G. Beardsley, James C. Derby, Henry Ivison, 
Jr., George Pathbun, E. L. Skinner, Joseph Osborne, 
Hon. Thomas T. Howe, Jr., John S. Clary, Fayette 

G. Day, Dr. Lansing Briggs, L. E. Carpenter, Cyrus 
14 



24:2 HISTOKY OF AUBUKN. 

C. Dennis, Charles P. Wood, Philo II. Perry, John P. 
Hulbert, Corydou II. Merriman, F. L. Griswold, 
Gastrom Biilkley, Charles W. Pomero}^, David Wright, 
William P. Smith, George Underwood, I. A.. Kobinson, 
L. W. Nye, Levi Johnson, William Allen, Theo. M. 
Pomeroy, and William Hills. 

The A. L. A. oi-ganized at the meeting named 
above, electing a full set of officers, namely : Stephen 
A. Goodwin, president ; Wm. Pichardson, -sace-presi- 
dent ; Seneca B. Dennis, secretary ; Benjamin Frank- 
lin Hall, reader ; and Dr. F. H. Hamilton, Peter H. 
Myers, Dr. Erastns Humphreys, Wm. Hopkins, and 
S. B. Dennis, executive board. The officers were 
elected once a month till ISil. The presidents to 
this date, consecutively, were Wm. Pichardson, 
Michael S. Myers, Owen Munson, Thomas Y. Howe, 
Jr., Wm. Hopkins, Michael S. Myers. The associa- 
tion having, on the 17th of April, 1841, become incor- 
porated by an act of the Legislature, obtained through 
the exertions of a committee composed of Benjamin 
F. Hall, Jacob R. Howe, and I. T. Marshall, it was 
organized on the first Monday of May, at the Second 
Presbyterian church, with the following officers : Par- 
liament Bronson, president ; Amos Gould and Willet 
Lounsbury, vice-presidents ; Edward Ivison, recording 
secretary ; I. H. Wilson, corresponding secretary ; and 
John S. Clary, treasurer. Michael S. Myers was the 
second president nnder the charter ; Prof. Wm. Hop- 



GENEEAL PEOGKESS. 243 

tins, the third; and Cory don H. Merriman, the 
fourth. This brings us down to the summer of 1848, 
when the regular meetings and operations of the soci- 
ety were, for a time, suspended. They were, however, 
afterward resumed at intervals, and the association 
continued to exist, with more or less efficiency and 
usefulness, until the breaking out of the rebellion. 
The war deprived it of many of its active members, 
and its operations then ceased. 

The founders of the A. L. A. were "desirous of 
establishing a society, the object of which should be 
the edification and improvement of its members in 
literature and science, by means of public lectures, 
essays, orations, and debates," and of "establishing 
and maintaining a library, reading-room, and literary 
and scientific lectures." During the winter succeed- 
ing their- organization, they met weekly, and listened 
to lectures, essays, and poems, delivered in most cases 
by their own members, or by distinguished residents 
of Auburn not attached to their society. The second 
season, debates were introduced and mingled with the 
lectures. After the incorporation, the plans of tlie 
society were prosecuted with increasing success. De- 
bates were had upon all popular topics, and law, edu- 
cation, witchcraft, Great Britain, man's destiny, 
" Where there's a will, there's a way," anatomy, the 
arts, religion, capital punishment, furnished themes 
for the lectures. For nearly ten years the weekly meet- 



244 HISTOKY OF AUBURN. 

ings were held in the lectare-rooin attached to John 
II, Chedeirs museum, and were always numerously at- 
tended by the citizens of the town, who not only en- 
couraged the society by their attendance upon its pub- 
lic exercises, but also contributed liberally toward 
the formation of its lilirary. The Executive Commit- 
tee of the A. L. A. was accustomed to meet at the 
office of Dr. Blanchard Fosgate. Among the number 
that delivered lectures before the society, at different 
times, were Dr. L. E. Lathrop, Salem Town, Hon. 
Thomas Y. Howe, Jr., Benjamin F. Hall, Prof. Wm. 
Hopkins, Dr. Lansing Briggs, Willet Lounsbury, 
Francis Adams, Dr. Blanchard Fosgate, Kev. H. A. 
Nelson, Dr. Charles A. Hyde, William Allen, Eev. 
G. W. Montgomery, Parliament Bronson, Kev. Josiah 
Hopkins, Wm. W. Shepard, and I. T. Marshall. 

The meetings of the association were generally free 
to all who chose to attend ; their audiences usually 
tilled the room. Considerable expense attended these 
lectures, but the mental profit of the members was very 
great. Foreign lecturers were sometimes procured for 
a price, in which case an admission fee of one shilling 
was charged upon the public ; but this idea forms no 
part of the original purposes of the A. L. A. It be- 
came, unfortunately, in time, the ruling idea, and con- 
tinued to be so down to the date of dissolution of the 
society. The practice, however, had much to do with 
that dissolution. The di^ccjuises of great men, however 



GENERAL PROGEEi^S. 245 

great a source of intellectual enjoyment and improve- 
ment to those who are educated, are not well calculated 
to encourage the dull minds, or develop the native 
talent of associations like the one in view. While per- 
sonal mental improvement was steadily pursued by de- 
bates, readings, and oratorical exercises fronl its own 
members, the A, L. A. was prosperous ; but when 
that object was forgotten, and foreign lecturers and 
essayists were employed for a compensation to interest 
the public, which was then admitted to the meetings 
of the association upon the payment of a stated fee, 
and which in the end became the only party whom it 
was desirable to please, the membership of the A. L. 
A. fell away, till there were none left to carry it on. 
The archives and library of the society are now gather- 
ing mold in the office of one of its former members. 

The second Agricultural Society of Cayuga County 
was organized July 22d, 1841, at a numerous meet- 
ing of citizens and farmers at the Western Exchange, 
in Auburn. A constitution was framed and adopted. 
Executive and administrative officers were elected for 
the ensuing year, namely : Humphrey Ilowland, presi- 
dent ; John M. Sherwood, vice-president ; William 
Richardson, secretary ; and John B. Dill, treasurer. 

One of the most interesting topics of inquiry in the 
annals of our city is presented by. the attempts for the 
(Culture of the " morus 'multicaulis^'' or mulberry tree, in 
this vicinity, and the growth and manufacture of silk. 



246 HISTORY OF AUBURN, 

The subject of the cultivation of the mulberry plant,, 
as food for silk-wonns, and the production of cocoons 
therefrom, had been receiving, since 1830, considerable 
attention on Long Island, and in the neighborhood of 
the city of Patterson, New Jersey. The occupation 
was meeting with flattering success. Some of the 
silk-makers of Long Island had ventured to export a 
small quantity of raw silk to Europe, the quality of 
which was pronounced excellent. Silk manufactories 
had, in consequence, been started on a small scale in 
the producing regions, Avhich had established the 
feasibility of silk-making in America. The novelty of 
this discovery, and the well-known profit of silk-mak- 
ino", were, in 1838, exciting general curiosity and inter- 
est. Several periodicals describing the process of 
raising cocoons, and reeling the raw silk, were being 
put into extensive circulation in this State ; and the 
public had finally become impressed with the beliief 
that the silk manufacture might be carried on in the 
United States with as strong an assurance of success,, 
as in the most favored climes of the Old World. 

The Legislature of IsTew York happened at this time* 
to be seeking some branch of industry wherein con- 
victs might be employed without competing with free 
American mechanics. The manufacture of silk in the 
prisons was suggested to the Legislature by Hon. Wm. . 
H. Seward, then Governor of the State, as well calcu- 
lated to obviate the objection of mechanics to convict 



GENEEAL PEOGEESS. 247 

labor, and tlie prison agents were accordingly author- 
ized to introduce the silk business forthwith to the in- 
stitutions under their charge. 

There was at this time a gentleman connected with 
the carpet-weaving shop in the Auburn prison, in 
partnership with Josiah Barber, who was thoroughly 
conversant with the art of making silk, having been 
educated therein at the famous manufactories at Pais- 
ley, and having subsequently conducted similar fac- 
tories himself in England and in Scotland ; this was 
John Morrison, Esq., a native of Edinburgh. Mr. 
Morrison indorsed many of the printed statements of 
the American silk producers. Upon his suggestion, the 
culture of the mulberry was immediately commenced 
in and about Auburn, the production of cocoons being, 
of course, preliminary to the beginning of the silk busi- 
ness in the prison. In the spring of 1837, David 
West, convinced of the feasibility of the project, pur- 
chased two thousand mulberry buds, at thirty cents 
apiece, at Price's nursery, on Long Island, and, when 
the proper time arrived, planted them on a farm below 
Clarksville. During the summer, Asaph D. Leonard, 
Dr. Erastus Humphreys, Charles Coventry, James LL 
Bostwick, Sylvester Bradford, Abijah Pitch, Stephen 
Yan Anden, Erastus Pease, and others, imitated his 
example by setting out a few shrubs. 

With every prospect for a fair crop of leaves, these 
gentlemen then procured a quantity of the eggs of the 



248 IJISTOUY OK ALliUKN. 

silk worm, a few hundred of which were sent to Mr, 
Pease bj his son Lorenzo, then a nlii^sionary at 
Cjpras, built cocooneries, and began the experiment. 
Mr. Morrison aided them with practical advice, and 
all succeeded admirably, producing healthy worms, 
and a yield of prime silk. Part of this was reeled and 
spun at home, and the rest was sold at the factories 
in New Jersey and Long Island. It proved to be a 
superior article. A quantity of cocoons sufficient to 
warrant the opening of a silk department in the prison 
was not, however, yet produced. But the silk raisers 
of Auburn, elated with their first success, went into 
the business soon afterward on a larger scale ; and an 
impulse was given to silk culture all over the State by 
the awarding of bounties on cocoons by the Legislature, 
and by several county agricultural societies. 

The manufacture of sewing silk was commenced at 
the Auburn prison, as an experiment, by Henry Polhe- 
mus, the agent, on the 20th of May, 184:1. A single 
throwing mill was put into operation that day by two 
convicts, one of whom turned the wheel, and the other 
served cocoons, a small quantity of which had been, 
purchased in the vicinity of Auburn. The depart- 
ment having been placed under the supervision of 
John Morrison, the agent advertised for cocoons, offer- 
ing to pa}^ for them at the rate of from three to four 
dollars per bushel, in cash. Publicity was given to an 
estimate of the profits of cocoon-raising, by which it 



GENERAL I'KOGKESS. 



249 



appeared tliat, at a moderate calculation, one hundred 
bushels of cocoon's might be readily obtained from every 
acre of mulberry trees. In the course of six months, 
Mr, Polhemus set up in the prison four throwing mills 
more, which had been constructed through the inventive 
genius of Aretas A. Sabin, Esq., and he detailed eight 
convicts to work them. The supply of the raw matei' 
rial increasing, five mills and twelve convicts were 
added to the silk shop in May, 1842. The machinery 
was then driven by the application of water-perwer. 

Steam was introduced in August, and the shop wp.s still 

j 

further enlarged. About the same time a larg^ num- 
ber of mulberry trees were set out on the prison/ lands, 
now the site of the asylum. j 

In 1843, the department required the use of twelve 
throwing mills, furnished with sixty-fom' spindles, 
twelve bobbing wheels, twelve stationary wire swifts, 
eight pairs of horizontal swifts, six pairs of upright 
swifts, one drying rack, two quilling mills, one set of 
reehng pins, ten seventy-two inch reels, twelve forty- 
four inch reels, one band maker, a dye-house with ket- 
tles, and the labor of forty-one convicts. It was the 
fourth shop in size in respect to the number of its em- 
ployes. 

The advertisement of Mr. Polhemus, offering to pay 
a good cash price for all cocoons and raw silk that 
should be presented at the Auburn prison, made that 
institution the principal cash market of the United 



250 HISTORY OK AUBURN. 

States, lor the articles named. The certainty of a 
market was a powerful incentive to production, and 
hundreds of farmers, giving up large fields for the cul- 
tivation of the mulberry, plunged into the business of 
silk-raising. Cocooneries were built in and about 
Auburn by those who were operating on an extensive 
scale ; those who were not, occupied their barns, wood- 
houses, garrets, nay, even their parlors, for the breeding 
and feeding of worms. Like the real-estate furor, the silk 
enterprise took the form of a spasmodic mania, ungov- 
erned by any reason whatever. Men counted tlieir 
eggs as full-grown worms, their buds as full-grown 
trees, and both, by the thousands, tens of thousands, 
and millions. Eggs and plants soon sold at fabulous 
prices. Twigs of the mulberry, containing a single 
bud, brought a dollar apiece. Everybody must have a 
few worms and a few bushels of cocoons for sale. 
Raw silk, therefore, came to the prison in rapidly in- 
creasing quantities from every direction. Tennessee, 
JSTew Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Maryland sent 
in large supplies, and there was scarce a county in 
"Western New York that did not do the same. 

The progress of the experiment of the silk manufac- 
ture at tbe Auburn prison was watched with curiosity 
and interest in all the United States. It was a well- 
known fact, that this branch of industry had enriched 
every nation in which it had ever been prosecuted to 
any great extent. The first success of the experiment 



GENERAL PEOGEESS, 251 

was tlierefore received witii genuine gratification by 
the people of this country. The prison produced a 
soft, strong, brilliant, and even silk, equal in some re- 
spects to the foreign-made article, and superior in 
others, which sold readily at seven dollars fper pound,, 
or at an advance of twenty-five per cent, on the cost 
of manufacture. These results were obtained under 
all the disadvantages of inexperience and imperfect 
machinery ; and the manufacture of silk then appeared 
to be no longer an experiment, but a successful and lu- 
crative occupation. 

The continuance of the business on the part of the 
prison at Auburn without loss, became, however, about 
the year 1845, problematical. The merchants of Kew 
York city, who might have taken just pride, or even 
considered it their duty, to encourage the manufacture 
of silk in this country, took ground instead against 
the American articles, excited a prejudice against it in 
the market, and ruined its sale. In a few months, its 
value fell from seven dollars a pound to five. It was 
also beginning to be observed that the peculiarities of 
prison labor were unsuited to silk manufacture ; for 
this branch of industry requires operatives possessing 
delicate touch and skillful management. The m.ale 
convicts who work under compulsion as a punishment, 
and are continually coming and going as their terms 
expire, cannot possess these requisites ; and it had be- 
come impossible to obtain female operatives, by the 



252 HISTORY OF AUBURN. 

law of 1842, providing for [the imprisonment of all 
female convicts at Mount Pleasant. And the famous 
morus rnuUicauUs speculation occurred, which in- 
jm'ed the production of tlie raw material to a great 
•extent, causing many to leave the business, and dimin- 
ishing the supply of cocoons. This speculation was 
the ingenious device of some down-east people to 
make money. The demand for mulberry plants and 
cuttings having become enormous, these men procured 
vast quantities of the slips of forest trees, and sold 
them throughout the country for the genuine article. 

These considerations at length led the officers of 
the Auburn prison to decline to purchase a further 
supply of cocoons or reeled silk, and to close out the 
silk shop under their charge. The step was taken 
with reluctance, for it was well known that in an- 
nihilating the main cash market for silk in. the north- 
ern States, many private fortunes would thereby be 
ruined, and the death-blow would be given to an en- 
tei-prise in which the American people felt the deep- 
est interest. The effort was relinquished here within 
fiye years of its commencement. 

Temperance was, in 1841, the object of one of the 
most powerful movements for reform ever organized 
in Cayuga County. For forty years distilling had 
been one of the most lucrative branches of business in 
its principal villages, especially in Auburn. Here, 
whiskey was extensively consumed, and, having always 



geneAal peogeess. 2o«3^ 

a higli market value, was in early times used, even as a. 
substitute for money. Portions of the finest lands in 
the heart of our city were sold repeatedly for a barrel 
or an half-barrel, as the case might be, of this commod- 
ity. The Samson of the settlement in its early days 
was wont to exhibit his strength by grasping a barrel 
full of whiskey, by the chines, lift it to his lips, and 
drink from the bung-hole. The prevalence of the 
habit of intemperance was deplorable. To resist its 
progress, reform its victims, and relieve the suffering 
families of inebriates, were the purposes of the temper- 
ance movement of 1841. 

An active, hard-working society was organized for 
the county, which struck boldly at the use of intoxi- 
cating beverages, in whatever place or manner. The 
practice of drinking toasts at the public dinners on the 
4th of July gaining the society's attention, a celebra- 
tion of that anniversary in '41 was organized and con- 
ducted under its auspices, in order that the example 
might be set of observing the great jubilee of the civil 
year without the use of alcohol. The citizens also had 
a celebration that day, but the temperance procession 
was the largest and most enthusiastic. The letter ot 
Adams, and the Declaration, were read to at least five 
thousand people at the Seminary grounds, by I. T. 
Marshall, and orations were delivered by E. C. Delevan 
and Francis Adams. At the dinner at the Auburn 
House, David Wright, Esq., president of the day, read 



■354: HISTORY OF AUBURN. 

the toasts, -whicli were for the first time in Auburn 
drank with pure water. 

Popular interest in the movement was kindled du- 
ring the winter of 1841-2. Not onlj was a temper- 
ance society for male citizens formed in Auburn, but 
one for the women, and a reform society. The wives 
of the clergymen of the place were tlie oiRcers of the 
female societies. All were efficient, well-organized 
bodies. By their persistent efforts, a fervor for reform 
sprang up all through the county, and was the cause of 
an immense temperance mass-meeting and celebration 
in Auburn on the 1st of February, 1842. A proces- 
sion was formed, which was composed of the Auburn 
and the Skaneateles brass bands, the Auburn Guards, 
under Captain Jesse Segoine, the fire companies, the 
officers of the village, dignitaries, and hundreds of 
citizens from nearly every town in the county, with 
wagons, banners, and emblems. There was speak- 
ing during the day and evening at four difiierent 
churches. 

The law was invoked, meanwhile, to prevent unau- 
thorized liquor vending, and the efforts of the trnstees, 
the poormaster, the courts, and the temperance socie- 
ties of Auburn, were united for the furtherance of 
the purposes of the reformers. These efiforts were 
crowned with success. The societies were enlarged 
and strengthened, many almost hopeless inebriates 
were reclaimed, stills were closed, to be replaced with 



GENERAL PEOGEESS. 255 

mills, and tlie order and morality of tlie town was per- 
ceptibly increased. 

Conspicuous at this time for its deeds of mercy was 
an organization of ladies, known as the Martha Wash- 
ington Society, of Auburn, which had been formed in 
1835, with the design of alleviating the wants of the 
suffering families of the intemperate, though its oper- 
ations were being conducted, in 1841, on the more ex- 
tended scale of general benevolence. It was the pur- 
pose of the members, who were ladies of the highest 
standing and refinement, " to seek all persons in dis- 
tress, and to assist the poor and destitute," with per- 
fect catholicity toward the needy of all religious de- 
nominations. This purpose was effected in a syste- 
matic manner by intrusting its execution to faithful 
officers and managers. The town was separated into 
districts, which it was the duties of the members of a 
visiting committee to canvass in person, in order to 
discover and examine all cases of misfortune, and de- 
termine those to which tlie society should extend as- 
sistance. Every case was relieved as far as it was pos- 
sible. 

The society met during the winter season weekly, 
in a room over Hugh McClallen's gun-shop, on North 
Street, where the reports of the visiting committee 
were received, applications for aid from the poor were 
lieard, and garments were prepared fDr the benefit ofj 
those in need of them. Contributions in money, cloth- 



256 HISTOKT OF AUBURN. 

ing, food, and fuel, from tlie charitable in the town, 
were either sent or reported to these meetings. The 
duty of preparing sewing-woi'k fur the ladies at the 
society's rooms was imposed npon a wardrobe com- 
mittee, which was also empowered to see that the fin- 
ished garments were in readiness for distribution. In 
later times, the society held its meetings in either the 
session-room of the First Church, the court-house, or 
Markham Hall. 

With the Thanksgiving donations of the Presbyte- 
rian churches at their disposal, the ladies of the society 
always began their work of benevolence at the ap- 
proach of cold weather ; and, at all times, in the 
depths of the most bitter winters, they were even 
found in the hovels of the lower classes, ministering 
both to the physical and spiritual wants of their in- 
mates, comforting the neglected, clothing all that were 
willing to attend church, and many that were not, and 
supplying Bibles, money, food, or fuel, as the circum- 
stances seemed to require. They thus distributed 
thousands of dollars among the suffering poor. 

A period of unusual distress in the winter of 1842-3, 
caused by an unusual stringency of the times, that 
threw large numbers of poor people out of employ- 
ment, called upon the charitable of all denominations 
to devise means of relief. The ladies of the Martha 
"Washington Society, accordingly, aided by large num- 
bers of the citizens, decorated the town hall in beauti- 



OENEEAL PROGRESS. 257 

ful style with evergreens, and opened a fair and exhi- 
bition there on the 5th of January, 1843, for the bene- 
fit of the poor. The Anburn Band volunteered its 
services. A large fund was realized, and was applied 
as intended, by a committee of ladies representing all 
the churches of the town. 

The Martha Washington Society has carried on its 
purpose of benevolence down to the present day, with 
ever-increasing efficiency and usefulness. Its mem- 
bership is large — one hundred and upward — and it& 
officers are influential and untiring. Both officers and 
members have rendered themselves eminent in Aubum 
for their unaffected piety and unceasing endeavors in 
behalf of the unfortunate. They now employ, in the 
person of Miss Amanda Irish, a most invaluable agent 
and assistant. This lady, who is also an agent of the 
Bible Society, devotes her whole time to visiting the 
poor, reading the Bible to them, and lightening their 
wants by the application of such funds and articles as 
the society is able to place at her command. Her 
labors, like those of the organization of which she is 
a member, are perfectly unostentatious, but incessant, 
and are highly esteemed by the lowly in Auburn. 

The lady who had the honor to be the first president 
of the M. W. Society was Mrs. L. E. Lathrop. The 
second was Mrs. Myron C. Keed. Mrs. Isaac Selover 
was elected to the position in 1848 ; Mrs. Daniel Hew- 
son, in 1854 ; Miss Amanda Irish, in 1858 ; and Mrs. 
15 



258 UI8T0RY OF AUBURN. 

Charles M. Howlet, in 1866. The office of treasurer 
was successively filled bj-^ Mrs. I. F. Terrill, Mrs. 
Hewson, Mrs. D. P. AVallis, Mrs. James Hyde, Mrs. 
C. P. Williams, Mrs. W. E. Hewson, Mrs. M. M. Otis, 
Miss Mary Steel, Miss Georgia L. Osborne, and Mrs. 
E. C. Selover. The secretaries were Mrs. Joseph T. 
Pitney, Mrs. Terrill, Mrs. A. T. Ontis, Mrs. Horace 
T. Cook, Mrs. Morris, Mrs. Hyde, and Miss Fannie P. 
Olmsted. The organization for 1868-9 is: Mrs. Isaac 
Selover, president ; Mrs. H. T. Cook, Mrs. J. H. Che- 
dell, vice-presidents ; Miss Fanny P. Olmsted, secre 
tary ; Miss Georgia L. Osborne, treasurer ; Mrs, C. M. 
Howlet, Mrs. T. M. Hunt, Mrs. J. C. Bailey, and Mrs. 
I. F. Terrill, wardrobe committee. 

Among the wardrobe and managing committees 
were from time to time the following : Mrs. Henry 
Mills, Mrs. TenEyck, Mrs. L. A. Millard, Mrs. M. L. 
Perrine, Mrs. Dibble, Mrs. James Camp, Mrs. James 
K. Cox, Mrs. H. L. Knight, Mrs. Crane, Mi-s. Mar- 
shall, Mrs. T. M. Hunt, Mrs. Congden, Mrs. Alvah 
Worden, Mrs. Charles P. Wood, Mrs. J. H. Chedell, 
Mrs. A, H. Goss, Mrs. J, Ives Parsons, Mrs. G. H. 
Letchworth, Mrs. Thomas l^elson, Mrs. J. T. Bartlett, 
Mrs. Mellen, Mrs. E. E. Marvine, Mrs. Hosmer, Mrs. 
Stone, Mrs. O. F. Knapp, Mrs. H. Wilson, Mrs. Miles 
Perry, Mrs. Charles Pomeroy, Mrs. Charles A. Lee, 
Mrs. S. L. Bradley, Mrs. W. E. Hewson, Mrs. Horace 
T. Cook, Mrs. Abin Groot, Mrs. Day K. Lee, Mrs. 



GENERAL PKOGEESB. 259 

Theodore Dimon, Mrs. K. Watson, Mrs. Bailey, Mrs. 
Van Anden, Mrs. I^. P. Clark, Mrs. E. G. Knight, 
Mrs. T. M. Pomeroy, Mrs. Charles Pomeroy, Mrs. B. 
A. Tuttle, Mrs. S. M. Hopkins, Mrs. John Brainard, 
Mrs. Miles Perry, Mrs. Enfns Sargent, Mrs. J. W. 
Wilkie, Mrs. P. Bronson, Mrs. Gorton Allen, Mrs. 
Jesse Smith, Mrs. C. H. Merriman, Mrs. J. JST. Starin, 
Mrs. Jesse Segoine, Mrs. Schoonmaker, Mrs. F. G. 
Day, Mrs. Wier, Mrs. H. G. Thornton, Mrs. George 
Morgan, Mrs. H. Lindsley, Mrs. John Choate, Mrs. 
Steel, Mrs. Moses, Mrs. Jas. Seymour, Mrs. E. L. 
Ford, Miss Lizzie Hall, Mrs. H. Swift. 

A pleasant incident of the summer of 1843 was an 
enthusiastic ovation by the people of Auburn to the 
venerable John Quincy Adams, which was of the same 
spontaneous character as that accorded to the illustrious 
La Fayette, in 1825. The " old man eloquent," return- 
ing to his home from a ramble in Canada, had been 
received in the cities of Buffalo and Rochester witli 
the most unexpected and splendid demonstrations of 
public esteem ; and veneration and patriotism roused 
the people here to pay him similar honors. The news 
of his approach arrived on the evening of Thursday, 
July 26th, The citizens, gathering the next morning, 
authorized the Hon. Wm. H. Seward, Hon. Roscoe 
Conkling, Hon. Elijah Miller, Luman Sherwood, P. 
H. Perry, Stephen A. Goodwin, James C. Wood, and 
J. L. Doty, to tender to Mr. Adams the hospitalities of the 



260 IIISTOliY OF AUBURN, 

place. The committee proceeded immediately to CaDan- 
daigua, to meet Mr. Adams, with whom it returned at 
half-past nine in the evening. The party was met 
at the depot by the Hon. Ulysses F. Doubleday, Parlia- 
ment Bronson, Abijah Fitch, Michael S. Myers, and 
Geo. H. Wood, the committee of arrangements, who, 
under escort of the military band, the lire companies, 
bearing torches, and a procession of citizens, conducted 
it to the residence of Governor Seward. With rous- 
ing cheers, the crowd here bade the Ex-President 
good night, and dispersed. At six o'clock in the morn- 
ing, Mr. Adams visited the State Prison, then in charge 
of Mr. Doubleday, the agent, with whom he had 
formed an acquaintance, while a fellow-member of 
Congress. A few hours later he went with the com- 
mittee to the First Church, where he was eloquently 
welcomed to Auburn by Governor Seward. Mr. 
Adams' reply was listened to with fixed attention. 
Beceiving at its close the final salutations of the dense 
throng of citizens in the church, he went to the Amer- 
ican Hotel, where for an hour he was accessible to all 
who chose to visit him. The Auburn Guards and a 
large body of citizens then accompanied him to Syracuse. 
The population of Auburn, in 1845, was six thousand 
one hundred and seventy-one. Our citizens were then 
entering upon a new career of activity and internal im- 
provements. Particular attention was being paid to 
the mending and beautifying of the streets. 



GENERAL PEOGEESS. 261 

One of tlie measures of tlie trustees of the corpora- 
tion in this direction occasioned a sensation. It had 
been found necessary to reduce the hill on Seminary- 
Street, the highest part of which was the section in 
front of the Seminary, in order to make it convenient 
for travel. A deep excavation was made in the road- 
bed at the top of the rising ground, and the trustees 
found themselves obliged to order the destruction of a 
row of beautiful elms on the sidewalk, that had been 
planted in the infancy of the Seminary, with the per- 
sonal assistance of the lamented Dr. James Richards. 
The act was strongly opposed in many parts of the 
town, for it was esteemed as almost sacrilege to cut 
down what many regarded as the monuments of an 
eminent and respected man. 

A young gentleman of a bold and poetic turn of 
mind " opened the armory of his indignation " at this 
point, and discharged at the town authorities, through 
the columns of the Auhurn Joiirnal — June 25th, 1 845 
— a well-directed shaft, in the following words : 

THE DIKGE OP THE ELMS. \ 

One night in June, in lovely June, 
Beneath the fair, the bright full moon, 
I wandered forth in listless mood. 
Nor turned until I musing stood 
Where, a thrifty and noble band, 
The fairest Elms of Auburn stand. 
All faintly breathed the evening breeze. 
Stirring the leaves of those young trees 
Doomed to wither and to fall 
Beneath the axeman's weapon, all. 
Lo 1 on my ear there fell a sound 
Like voices, still and small, around. 



262 HISTORY OF AUBURN. 

I knew it was the rustling leal'. 
And yet it seemed a wail of grief; 
I liBtened, Btill, until I heard 
Clearly each mysterious word 
Of all that wild and plaintive song, 
Borne by the zephyr's wing along. 

Oh, well attuned mut^t be the ear, 
If daily, nightly, we would hear 
Mute nature's tongueless eloquence. 
Mayhap, by some such finer sense, 
Unknown to mortal ear or eye, 
Those trees had learnt from passers-by 
Their fate, and conscious of the ban 
Upon them, thus their song began. 

Farewell, thou moon, farewell, ye skies t 
Farewell, thou moist, green earth ! 

Farewell, thou light that softly lies 
Where the dew-drop has its birth. 

Farewell, ye long and sunny days. 
That smiled on us so brightly ; 

Farewell, thou breeze, that ever plays 
"With tossing boughs so lightly. 

Farewell, ye lovers and ye loved. 
Whose whisperings oft we hear. 

As 'neath our shade ye fondly roved. 
And, in sooth, thought none were near. 

Farewell ! 'Tis bitter thus to die 
E'er half our race is ran. 

To fall, our life-blood beating high. 
And our leafy plumage on. 

Ten fair, young, happy elms are we. 
Mute, senseless though we seem : 

At eve we weep, but laugh in glee, 
When morning breaks our dreams. 

Spare, brother of the dust, oh spare ! 

If ye love us not, oh save 
For his sake, who planted us with care. 

Long e'er he passed to Ms grave. 

Will ye disturb his ashes cold ? 

Are there not still others left 
Who love his memory, and hold 

Us more dear, since they're bereft? 



GENERAL PKOGEBSS. 263 

Alas ! that mercy shall we find, 

Which man to man -will never deign ! 
Eaise loud thy note, oh gentle wind ! 

Breathe no more this mournful strain. 

Thus rose and fell the fitful song, 
That gently spoke of cruel wrong, 
And mildly urged its sorrowing plea ; 
Vain help were found if sought from me I 
I looked around ; the moon had passed. 
Darkly the sky was overcast. 
Louder sang the rising breeze, 
And wildly shook the swaying trees. 
They breathed no gentle, dying moans. 
But shrieked aloud in fiercer tones. 
I listened, half in doubt and fear, 
While words like these fell on my ear:— 

" Ho ! heartless contractors for public works I 

Ho ! tasteless, soulless corporation ! 
Ye Goths, ye vandals, ye barbarous Turks ! 

Ye internally improving nation ! 
Whether better or worse, come, hear your curse ^ 

And listen to your condemnation. 
Ho I leveling tyrants of one brief hour ! 

Who war with nature, her beauty deface. 
Go ! do your worst, exert your insect power. 

Leave no vestige of nature or grace. 
Fell the forest, wither the flower, 

And make of the world a wearisome waste. 

May phrenzy seize your restless brains. 

To wander in fancy be ye cursed. 
For ever to wander o'er scorching plains, 

Where no fount shall gush to slake your thirst, 
Nor shade to ease your burning pains. 

Thus, thus, ye vandals, be ye cursed. 

Nay more, may hissing dragons 'round you stand, 
And lash you, aye, with a scorpion scourge, 

While you level for ever the hills of sand 
Which the hot simoon on high shall surge. 

Ceaseless be the work that long you've planned, 
And endless your curse as mournful our dirge." 

Hon. John C Hulbert, then one of the trustees of 
the village, already harassed by the unjust remarks 
of the people beyond expression, resented this open 



264 HISTORY (IF AUBURN. 

attack without ceremony. He instantly sued the edi- 
tor of the Journal for permitting a libelous publica- 
tion. The suit was ultimately withdrawn ; but the 
decision of the act put the fault-linders to silence, and 
the work proceeded without further trouble. 

The new vigor imparted to wool-growing and the 
manufacture of woolen goods in America by the tar- 
iff of 1842, and the consequent preparations for the 
erection of woolen factories in great numbers in the 
States of Kew York and Pennsylvania, interested the 
citizens of Auburn afresh, in 1844, in the long-talked- 
of, but then unaccomplished scheme, of erecting a 
woolen factory here, and of putting into use some part 
of the vast and idle water-power of the Owasco Out- 
let. 

It was also beg-innino; to be observed that the ab- 
sence of a market for wool in Auburn was highly inju- 
rious to the interests of the town, and of the wool- 
growers of the county ; and that though this place 
was situated in the heart of a fertile and productive 
agricultural district, and was singled out by its easy 
access, immense water-power, and facilities for build- 
ing, as well adapted to become an extensive manufac- 
turing town, that that end would never be attained 
without the aid of enterprise, the erection of mills, 
and the making employment for the population. 

The advantages of the proposed factory were laid 
before a few prominent citizens of Auburn, at a meet- 



GENEKAL PEOGKESS. 265 

ing at the Western Exchange, in the month of March, 
1844, bj the Hon. Wm. H. Seward, and others, whose 
arguments on the subject were so convincing, that it 
was resolved to make immediate efforts to erect a 
woolen mill here, and Mr. Seward, Eleazer Hills, and 
Amos Underwood were instructed to prepare articles 
of association for a manufacturing incorporation, with 
a capital of $100,000. The company known as the 
Cayuga Factory was formed on the 1st day of April, 
by Hon. Wm. H. Seward, John M. Sherwood, Amos 
Underwood, "William C. Beardsley, Captain Bradley 
Tuttle, Sherman Beardsley, Abijah Fitch, and Charles 
W. Pomeroy. Joseph Wadsworth and George C. E. 
Thompson were admitted to the company a few days 
afterward. 

The project of these gentlemen was viewed by our 
citizens generally with great favor, but they were n<jt, 
in 1844, prepared to support it with their investments. 
The amount of capital required was large, and it was 
necessary that the profit of the mill should be clearly 
apparent. In February, 1845, the Hon. Christopher 
Morgan, D. C. Stewart, and Horace Hotchkiss, were 
requested to lend their aid in the matter of obtaining 
subscriptions toward the factory. They were inter- 
ested in the enterprise, and on the 26th they complied 
with the request of the citizens, by publishing an ad- 
dress on the subject, which was sent all over the coun- 
ty. This paper set forth the abundance of indolent 



266 HISTORY OF AUBURN. 

water-power in Auburn, the superior quality of Cay- 
uga County wool, of which there was then annually 
produced nearly four hundred thousand pounds, the 
benefits which would accrue to this community from 
the operation of the factory, the augmentation of the 
village to be caused thereby, and the large dividends 
then being paid by well-known woolen factories to their 
stockholders. The address was well-timed and ser- 
viceable. A large amount of money was speedily sub- 
scribed toward the stock of the proposed company, most 
of which was contributed with the excellent motive of 
aiding an object that tended to promote the common 
prosperity. The movement, however, was suffered to 
come to a stand during the summer, where it remained 
for two years. 

In the month of January, 1847, an informal meeting 
of, those interested in the woolen mill project was held 
in a back room of the Western Exchange, upon the re- 
quest of Harvey Baldwin, of Sjrracuse, and Dr. C. D. 
Mclntyre, of Albany, both of whom were large owners 
in the power of the big dam, and contiguous property, 
and who jointly proposed to furnish a mill site at a 
nominal price, and subscribe twenty thousand dollars 
toward the stock of a woolen company, provided that 
the people of Auburn would now put forth their ener- 
gies, organize a company, and build a mill. The meet- 
ing was composed of business men, accustomed to act 
promptly, and sixteen thousand dollars was pledged 



GENERAL PROGRESS. 26T 

by them toward the object on the spot. It was pro- 
posed, in the first instance, to form a company with a 
capital of $40,000. But on the 20th of February the 
shareholders met, and raised the capital of the com- 
pany to $100,000. They then organized as the Auburn 
Woolen Company, with the following ofiicers : Hon. 
John Porter, president ; Henry G. Ellsworth, manu- 
facturer ; and Dr. Joseph T. Pitney, John H. Chedell, 
Abijah Fitch, E. P. Williams, William C. Beardsley, 
Captain Bradley Tuttle, and Dr. C. D. McTntyre, di- 
rectors. 

A site for the mill was purchased of the Auburn and 
Owasco Canal Company, with one-third of the hydrau- 
lic power of the dam, on the 1st of March. The erec- 
tion of the main mill, which is elsewhere at length de- 
scribed, was begun the same year. When completed, 
the cost of this building was found too far in excess of 
the original estimates. In order to stock the establish- 
ment with machinery, therefore, and erect other neces- 
sary works, it became necessary to enlarge the capital 
of the company. This was done September 8th, 1851, 
by the stockholders, who met at the call of John Por- 
ter, John L. Watrous, Parliament Bronson, James 
Mclntyre, Charles Bemis, and Thomas Y. Howe, Jr., 
then directors. The stock was increased to $158,400. 

The mill went into operation at once. For a while, 
it seemed to realize the expectations of its founders in 
every respect. A market was created in Auburn for 



iJ70 HISTOHV OF AUBUKN. 

The canals and railroads aided newspapers in the 
interior by increasing the rapidity with which news 
might be obtained. Senii-w^eeklies and extras began 
to be largely issued, in 1838, by the presses of Anburn, 
to keep pace with the progress of the times. But the 
prosperity of these papers really began with the con- 
struction of the telegraph, in 1846. Lines of the 
wires were brought to Auburn from the east in May 
of this year, and were thrown open for use on the 25th. 
Our editors were then put in possession of intelligence 
from the seats of commerce and government as soon 
as the papers iii the city. With commendable public 
spirit and enterprise, they anticipated the completion of 
the telegraph by arranging with . the Syracuse and 
Utica papers for receiving the news temporarily, and, 
in March, issuing, for the first time in Auburn, daily 
gazettes. These were published respectively from the 
offices of the Cayuga Patriot and the Aioburn Adver- 
tiser. Both were modest little five-column sheets, 
about the size of the original Western Federalist. 
From that time the local papers of Auburn rapidly 
gained ground in the esteem of business men and 
residents of the town. They now occupy a command- 
ing position, and overshadow the prints of all daily 
presses outside of the metropolis. 

The State Fair of 1846 was, at the urgent request of 
our citizens and of the County Agricultural Society, 
held in Auburn. The field prepared for the purpose 



GENERAL PKOGBESS. 271 

was that upon the top of the Capitol hill, forming part 
of the old Beach farm, where ample wooden buildings 
had been erected on all sides for the use of exhibitions. 
The fair opened on the 15th of September, and lasted 
three days, durino; which the weather was warm and 
most auspicious. The town was far more crowded than 
at any other time in its history. People poured into its 
streets by every route and line of conveyance. The 
railroads were burdened beyond precedent. A train 
from Cayuga, with fifteen hundred people on board, 
could not ascend the heavy grades, but stuck fast near 
the Shunpike, and the travelers had to walk in to the 
town. 'No State Fair had yet drawn so large an at- 
tendance. It was estimated that there were no less 
than thirty thousand people in Auburn at the time 
of highest pressure. 

Traveling shows, stages, wagons, eating stands, and 
droves of splendid cattle, thronged every avenue lead- 
ing to the grounds. The places of amusement, the 
public halls, and the court-house, were all open at night, 
and crowds of people were entertained there with 
speeches and exhibitions. On the last day, the annual 
address was delivered on the hill, by Samuel Stevens, 
Esq., of Albany, 

The disposition of the masses at night was provided 
for by lines of wagons and stages to all the surround- 
ing villages, and by special trains on the railroad to 
the towns between Geneva and Syracuse. Every tav- 



272 HISTORY OF AUBUKN. 

em ill Auburn, and many private dwellings, were 
crammed to their utmost capacity. 

Auburn was chartered as a city on the 21st day of 
March, 1848, having then nearly eighty-five hundred 
inhabitants, A charter election took place on the first 
Tuesday of April, at which Cyrus C. Dennis, a public- 
spirited and energetic citizen, was elected the first 
mayor. 

Brighter days dawned on Auburn after the incor- 
poration. The general despondency that had per- 
vaded the town since 1837, and stagnated business of 
every sort, was now succeeded by an equally general 
reanimation. 

Laws to increase the usefulness and influence of the 
common schools of Auburn were passed about the 
year 1850. They properly introduce the interesting 
subject of public instruction. The importance given 
to this subject, by the just celebrity of the institutions 
built in Auburn to difiuse knowledge amongst the 
young, will afford all needful apology for beginning 
an account of them at the beginning, notwithstanding 
that this embraces many particulars in relation to ob- 
solete systems and extinct schools in Auburn, which 
are, in fact, valuable only for the sake of complete- 
ness, and to inform the curious. 

The earliest encouragement given to common 
schools, in this State, was contained in a provision of 
the law of 1Y89, regulating the survey and disposition 



GEKl'KAL PKOGEESf. 273 

of the waste public lands. The State admitted, even 
at this early day, the i.nperativs nature of its duty to 
aid education, by devoting two lots of six hundred 
acres each, in every township of ten miles square, to 
the support of literature, and of the gospel and schools. 
And, further, by the passage of a law, in 1T95, upon 
the advice of the liegents of the University, author- 
izing the annual appropriation, for five years, of twenty 
thousand pounds sterling, to maintain, throughout its 
territory, schools wherein children might be taught 
such " branches of knowledge as are most useful and 
necessary to complete a good English education." 

"With rare zeal for the mental welfare of their sons 
and daughters, the few scattered male settlers of Aure- 
lius assembled from the various openings in the gloomy 
forests that overspread the township, in April, 1796, at 
the house of Colonel Hardenburgh, and took their first 
eflScient action in relation to schools, being encouraged 
to the same by the laws above alluded to. A " town 
committee on schools " was appointed, consisting of 
Ezekiel Crane, Joseph Grover, John L. Hardenburgh, 
and Elijah Price, into whose hands was put the whole 
management of school lands and moneys, and the over- 
sight of school-houses. Town committees of this na- 
ture were annually elected till 1812, when they were 
succeeded by oJBScers of another title. Upon the Aure- 
lius committee there were, at different times, such en- 
terprising men as Dr. Samuel Crossett, Walter D. 
16 



27'i UISTOllV OF AUBUKX. 

Nicoll, William Bostwick, Moses Gilbert, Edward 
Wheeler, David Buck, Wm. C. Bennett, Noah Tay- 
lor, Jabez Gould, and Moses Weed, Jr. The litera- 
ture, and gospel, and school lots of Aurelius, were not 
designated till September 28th, 1798. They were then, 
however, specified by the supervisors of Onondaga 
County — Aurelius being represented in the Board by 
Elijah Price — as lots number thirty-six and sixty, re- 
spectively. 

School-houses were, soon after this event, built in or 
near all the principal clearings in the township. Four 
stood on the site of Auburn. These were the little 
buildings mentioned in chapter second as standing on 
North Street hill, on the south-east corner of Division 
and Genesee Streets, on the south-west corner of South 
and Genesee Streets, and on Franklin Street. The 
cost of erecting and maintaining these very inexpen- 
sive structures was borne by the neighborhoods in 
which they were situated. The teacher was not, in 
these simple times, usually an overpaid man, nor was 
he scrupulous as to the manner in which he was paid. 
He rarely, if ever, saw cash, but was content to receive 
his wages in boarding around, and in available pro- 
duce of the farm. He conducted the school on what- 
ever plan he chose, but was seldom employed except 
during the winter months. 

This method of extending the rudiments of educa- 
tion to the children of the masses was well-meant, but 



GENERAL PROGRESS. 275 

inefficient ; in consideration of which, the Legislature, 
in 1805, passed an act for the appropriation of the 
avails of the sale of live hundred thousand acres of 
the public lands, as a permanent fand for supporting 
and encouraging the schools. The moneys were to be 
permitted to accumulate till the annual interest should 
exceed $50,000. That interest was then to be annu- 
ally distributed amongst the school districts. The 
benefit of this act was not immediate, so that the com- 
mon schools came, to be very much neglected. They 
gradually fell into disrepute among the wealthier 
classes ; and the result of this, in Auburn, was the for- 
mation of a multitude of private and select schools, and 
the establishment of the first Auburn Academy, in 
which there was a department for every age and grade 
of scholars below those of a college. 

In 1811, the Legislature appointed Jedediah Peck, 
Samuel Russel, John Murray, Jr., Koger Skinner, and 
Robert Macomb, as a committee, to devise a school sys- 
tem suitable to the wants of the expanding population 
of the State. An act based upon their report was 
passed June 19th, 1812 ; but was revised April 15th, 
1814, to give it greater efficiency. The general out- 
lines of the system thus adopted, which was framed 
with the view of placing within the reach of every 
youth in 'New York, between the ages of five and 
twenty-one, the means of acquiring the first principles 
of knowledge, and whicli remained in use with no im- 



270 llISTOliY OF A.UBUKN. 

portant alteration for nearly forty years, were these : 
The school moneys were to be apportioned amongst 
the counties according to their population, by an officer 
called the State Superintendent. The treasurers of 
the counties were to receive the county moneys, and pay 
them over to the town school-commissioners, three of 
whom were to be annually elected at every town -meet- 
ing. The commissioners were authorized to divide 
the towns into convenient districts and neighborhoods, 
which they might alter or modify as it was necessary, 
and distribute to them the public moneys of the town. 
Teachers were to be examined and licensed by inspec- 
tors, elected not to exceed six in number in every 
town. AYlierever districts were formed by the com- 
missioners, the people residing therein were required to 
assemble on due notice, for the purpose of choosing 
three trustees, a clerk, and a collector, of designating 
a site for a school-house, and of levying a tax to build 
the same. The trustees employed the teacher, paying 
their wages from the public moneys, if sufficient, and if 
not, from moneys raised by a rate-bill or tax upon the 
families sending children to school. They were also 
authorized to collect taxes levied at district meetings, 
provide fuel and repairs for the school, and to exoner- 
ate, at their discretion, from the payment of all suras 
due for tuition, repairs to the school, etc., all families 
that were in feeble circumstances. 

This was a salutary and well-timed law, and was 



OENEKAL PKOGKES.S 277 

generally approved. The first "board of commissioners 
elected in Aurelius, pursuant to its provision, consisted 
of John Grover, Zenas Hnggins, and Cromwell Ben- 
nett ; and the first board of trustees, of Hon. Elijah 
Miller, Hon, John H. Beach, David Hyde, Eenben S. 
Morris, and Stephen Wheaton. In 1814, under the 
revised law, Zenas Huggins, Ephraim Hammond, and 
ISTathaniel Millard, then recently elected commission - 
srs, laid off the township into twenty-four districts, 
subsequently increased to thirty-one, recording their 
boundaries in the old town-book. Auburn, not then 
incorporated, was at first included in district jSTo. 9, 
which comprised all of what is now the city, north of 
Judge Richardson's farm. All west and south of the 
ereek became, in 1816, ISTo. 26. In 1817, that part of 
the village east of the outlet and a line drawn there- 
from through Seminary Avenue to the village line, was 
3et apart as district ]N"o. 30. Upon the petition of 
Wm. Bostwick, Dr. Hackaliah Burt, Asa Hunger, 
and John Patty, district No. 26 was, after certain 
changes, converted, in July, 1822, into 'No. 29. 
Meanwhile, the people were organizing and building 
school-houses. Several were erected in and around 
Auburn, though two only attained any prominence. 
These were the Bell school-house, on East — now Ful- 
ton — Street, built in 1818, and containing the only 
school-bell in the village, and the school-house on the 
south-west corner of the Episcopal church-yard, after- 



278 HISTORY OF AUBUKN. 

ward used as a printing-office. Both these schools 
were built of brick, contained one room each, and were 
conducted upon the Lancastrian system of instruction. 
In 1822, they were jointly under the care of Abijah 
Keeler, Dr. Burt, Wm. Bostwick, Abner Beach, and 
James Little, trustees, under whose able administra- 
tion they became popular, numerously attended, and 
efficient institutions. 

The town of Auburn having been separated from 
Aurelius in 1823, a new arrangement of districts was 
soon afterward made for the convenience of the villag-e 
people. Dr. Hichard Steel and James Fitch, com- 
missioners, in the month of December, designated dis- 
trict No. 30 as new district No. 1, and No. 29 as No. 
2. They then created No. 3 in the northern part of 
the town. Erastus Pease, Theodore Spencer, and Asa 
Munger, commissioners in 1825, changed that part of 
the village proper north of the creek, and west of No. 
1, to No. 4. No. 6 was set off from No. 2 in 1827, it 
being all east of State, Exchange, and South Streets. 
The stone school-house at Clarksville was built in No. 
9, in 1824, by Edward Allen, Hermon Eldredge, and 
Kingsley Mason, trustees. A small brick school in 
No. 4, on North Street, was erected in 1827. Jabez 
Pease, John Patty, and Eseck C. Bradford erected a 
similar one in No. 6, in 1828, on School Street. 

The act of April 17th, 1838, appropriating the in- 
come of the United States deposit fund, or at least 



GENERAL PEOGIiESS. 279 

$165,000 thereof, for the general good of the common 
schools, and the purchase of libraries of sound, mis- 
cellaneous works, in each district, was a valuable assis- 
tance in gaining for these institutions the esteem and 
support of wealthy people. 

Keal improvement in the character and condition of 
the public schools of this city and county was first 
made under the efficient administration of Elliott G. 
Storke, of Brutus, county superintendent, and Philo 
H. Perry, town superintendent of Auburn, both of 
whom were elected in 18^3, The thorough investiga- 
tions of Mr, Storke disclosed the fact that there were 
at that time, in this county, two hundred and twenty- 
two district schools, and in this city four ; that one only 
of the whole number contained more rooms than one, 
that the buildings were rudely built and painfully 
out of repair, that the upper classes refused to allow 
their children to be taught in such uncomfortable and 
unhealthy places, and that, in many instances, the chil- 
dren of the lower classes remained at home because 
the parents were unable to incur the expense of tuition 
at the school, and shunned the reproach contained in the 
idea of being exonerated from that expense by the dis- 
trict trustees. These evils were traceable to the apathy, 
or conservatism, of the people of the various districts 
in relation to the schools ; and being reiterated from 
every quarter of the State, gained at last the attention 
of the Legislature, and their definite and positive action. 



280 lIItS'loKV Ul" ALliUAi-N, 

District scliool-house No. 2 was erected iii 1843-4, 
by Charles W. Pomeroj, Isaac S. Allen, and Benja- 
min F. Hall, trustees. " There being a laro:e number 
of colored children resident in the town, for whom no 
school had hitherto beea provided, who were excluded 
from most if not all the public schools by reason of 
popular prejudice and violence," a district was created 
for their especial benefit, in September, 1846, by 
Charles A. Parsons, the successor of Mr. Perry as 
town superintendent. The district embraced the 
whole town. Its trustees, in 1846, were John R. Hop- 
kins, Daniel Hewson, and Charles Griffin ; subse- 
quently they were Israel F. Terrill, Joseph W. Quincy, 
and Jacob Jordan. The school was established in the 
wooden building on Washington Street, since used as 
the African church. It was discontinued in 1851, 
and the children of negroes have, to the present, at- 
tended the other public schools of the city uninter- 
ruptedly. The office of county superintendent being 
abolished March 13th, 1847, Cayuga was deprived of 
one of its most efficient school officers in the person of 
Mr. Storke. 

Levi Johnson was elected city superintendent in 
1848, and the same year re-arranged the districts of 
the city, limiting the number to five, and dissolving all 
joint districts and neighborhoods. Mr, Johnson dis- 
charged his official duties with great ability and dis- 
cretion till 1856, when, declhiing a re-appointment, he 



GENERAL PROGRESS. 281 

devoted himself to the management of his own affairs, 
and was then succeeded by Charles P. Williams, who 
retained the position for ten years. To Mr. Williams 
the citizens of Auburn are indebted for a zealous ad- 
ministration, and well-directed efforts in the business 
of systematizing and elevating their schools toward the 
eminent position they now occupy. 

The act extending free and gratuitous education to 
the pupils of all the public schools of this State was 
passed March 26th, 1849. It was ratified at a popu- 
lar election by a vote of 243,872 against 91,951, or by 
fifty-five counties against four. Its propriety being 
afterward challenged by a restless aristocratic element 
in the State, the act was again submitted to the peo- 
ple, its faults having first been thoroughly ventilated, 
and in November, 1850, the people sustained their for- 
mer decision by a majority of 25,000 votes. 

The free-school system of Auburn had its origin in 
the law of 1849. Hon. Christopher Morgan, of Auburn, 
was at this time Secretary of State, and ex-officio su- 
perintendent of schools. Section seven of the act pro- 
vided that, in " each city where free and gratuitous edu- 
cation was not already established, laws and ordinan- 
ces might, and should without delay be passed, provid- 
ing for and securing and sustaining the system in each of 
their common, public, ward, or district schools." This 
feature of the law was presented to the Common Council 
of this city in January, 1860, by Benjamin F. Hall, in 



282 IIISTOKV OF AUBUKX. 

behalf of Lewis Paddock, Esq., then principal of district 
school x^o. 1, who has the honor of beginning the Au- 
burn i'ree-school movement, and led to the appoint- 
ment of Hon. Theodore Pomeroy, then city clerk, and 
the veteran teacher, Levi Johnson, as a committee to 
draft a special tree school law for Auburn. This 
law w^as duly drawn, and was passed by the Legisla- 
ture on the 10th of April, 1850. It created a Board of 
Education, composed of one trustee from each school 
district, elected annually, one commissioner from each 
ward of the cit}^, the mayor, who was ex-ojficio presi- 
dent of the board, and the city superintendent, who 
was also ex-officio clerk of the board. The boai'd, thus 
constituted, was invested with supreme control of the 
districts, schools, and teachers, and the disbursement 
of school moneys. The Common Council was empow- 
ered to raise, by tax, a sum sufficient to discharge the 
expense of carrying on the schools, and to raise yearly, 
upon the recommendation of the Board of Education, 
three thousand dollars for building purposes. The lat- 
ter amount was extended, in 1864, to eight thousand. 
To the trustees was committed the care of the school- 
houses and property of their respective districts. 

On the 21st of May, 1850, the inhabitants of the 
several districts in Auburn met and elected their first 
trustees under the new act. These gentlemen assem- 
bled at the town hall on the 28th, together with four 
commissioners, duly appointed by the Common Council, 



GENERAL PROGKESS. 283 

and the mayor and city superintendent, and organized 
the first Board of Education, The board consisted of 
his Honor, Aurelian Conlding, mayor ; Levi Johnson, 
superintendent and clerk; S. W. Arnett, Dr. B. Fos- 
gate, I. S. Marshall, and 0. P. Williams, commission- 
ers ; and E. W. Ketchell, Isaac S. Allen, Z. M. Mason, 
J. S. Bartlett, and Isaac Sisson, Jr., trustees. Since 
this first organization, there have been connected with 
the board, in the capacity of trustee or commissioner, 
the following friends of education : Harman Woodruff, 
J. E. Hopkins, C. Is^. Tuttle, Wm. H. Yan Tuyle, H. 
]Sr. Thompson, Josiah Letchworth, C. L, Sittser, Henry 
M. Stone, Benj. F. Hall, Dorr Hamlin, C. L. Wheaton, 
Miles Perry, E. G. Storke, J. W. Haight, Chas. Car- 
penter, William Lamey, James E. Tyler, T. J. Ken- 
nedy, S. L. Bradley, Lewis Paddock, Benj. B. Snow, 
B. A. Tuttle, and Joseph Osborn. 

Ordinances for the regulation and management of 
the schools were adopted August 3d, 1850. These 
secured a thorough uniformity, throughout the city, of 
modes of instruction and text-books, directed the sep- 
aration of the sexes in the schools, limited the school 
year to forty-five weeks, and prescribed the course of 
studies. They laid the foundation of that system of 
free education in Auburn, which, modified and im- 
proved from time to time, has now attained a perfec- 
tion and usefulness not excelled in Western J^e w York, 
and of which this city is deservedly proud. 



284 UISTOKY OF AUBURN. 

The free-scliool law met at the outset the intense 
opposition of the conservative element of Auburn 
society. But its advantages were po apparent, that it 
soon won its way to the regard of all liberal-minded 
men, and enlisted their support. Xew and costly 
school-houses were then erected successively in each of 
the five districts, and furnished with modern and ele- 
gant desks, benches, libraries, and conveniences. The 
new No. 1 supplanted the old in 1850-1 ; the new No. 
4 was built on the east side of North Street in 1851 ; 
No. 5 was erected on the corner of Seymour and 
Washington Streets the same year ; the new No. 2 was 
built in 1852; and the new No. 3, on the corner ol 
Grover and Mechanic Streets, in 1857 ; a more modem 
and commodious school was built in No. 4, on Seymour 
Street, in 1866 ; No. 1 w^as enlarged in 1867-8. The 
school-houses of Auburn, as a class, are now the finest 
of its public buildings. 

The High School of Auburn was authorized in 
March, 1866, by the following amendment to the free- 
school act : " The said Board (of Education) shall 
have power to establish, organize, and maintain a 
classical department or school nnder their charge in 
the city of Auburn, and purchase a site, and erect a 
building therefor in their discretion, and said classical 
department or school shall be known as the Auburn 
Academic High School ; and the said Board of Edu- 
cation of the city of Auburn, and their successors in 



GENERAL PROGRESS, 285 

office, are hereby constituted a body corporate for tliat 
purpose, under that name ; which department or school 
shall be subject to the visitation of the Regents of the 
University of this State, and to all laws and regulations 
applicable to the incorporated academies thereof, and 
shall be entitled to all the privileges of such academies, 
and to share in the distribution of the moneys of the 
literature fund of this State, as the said academies 
thereof. The said board shall have the power, with 
the consent of two-thirds of the trustees of the Au- 
burn Academy, to use and occupy the said Aubm'n 
Academy property for the purposes of said Academic 
High School ; and with the consent of two-thirds ot 
the trustees of said academy, they may take a trans- 
fer of said property, known as the Auburn Academy 
propert}'', to the said Auburn Academic High School ; 
and thereafter the same shall be used and occupied as 
an Academic High School, pursuant to the provisions 
of this act. And tuition in said Academic High School 
shall be for ever without charge to all children residing 
in the city of Auburn." This project, which had long^ 
been a subject of meditation with some of the school 
authorities here, was first distinctly presented to the 
Board of Education by a resolution adopted March 
10th, 1856, by the inhabitants of school district jSTo. 1, 
at an annual meeting, which was laid before the Board 
by Josiah Letchworth, the trustee. Ko action was 
taken at tliis time in the matter, but in October, 1863, 



2 so HISTORY OF AUBURN. 

the trustees of the Auburn Academy signified to the 
Board their interest in the establishment of a High 
School, and agreed to co-operate, if the project was 
undertaken. The matter was then generally agitated. 
In the winter of 1865-6, enterprising men took the 
movement in charge,, and secured the law that enabled 
them to carry it into effect. The Principal of the 
High School was by the lav/ made secretary of the 
Board of Education. To this important and respon- 
sible position, Warren Higley, A.M., of Auburn, was 
elected in the spring of 1866. The herculean task of 
classifying and grading the pupils of the district 
schools was instantly undertaken by Mr. Higley, as 
preliminary to the opening of the High School. The 
task accomplished, or partially so, the High School 
went into operation in January, 186Y, commencing 
with seventy-seven scholars. The institution was a 
success from the beginning, and, without question, ex- 
"ceeded all that had ever been claimed for it by the 
most sanguine of its friends. This result, however, is 
justly attributed, not only to the excellence of the 
plan upon which this school is conducted, but to the 
signal ability and painstaking efforts of its Principal, 
Mr. Higley. To him, more than to any other man, is 
the successful establishment of the Auburn High 
Scliool due. To the regret of the people of Auburn, 
Mr, Higley relinquished the position of Principal in 
the spring of 1868, Pie was succeeded by Prof, E, A, 



GENERAL PROGRESS. 287 

Charlton, of Schenectady, a gentleman of great repu- 
tation and ability. 

The Auburn Female Seminary, situated on the 
north-east corner of Genesee and Washington Streets, 
after being prosperously conducted for ten years, was 
destroyed by fire in 1849. Tlie necessity of seeking 
educational advantages for their daughters at distant 
schools, then befell the inhabitants of this place. This 
being attended with great expense and inconvenience, 
gave rise to the project of establishing another institu- 
tion here for female education, to be, however, of a 
higher order than the one destroyed, and on a more 
extensive scale. The importance of the work secured 
the co-operation of the prominent citizens of Auburn ; 
and an act incorporating the Auburn Female Uni- 
versity, was finally secured in the Legislature, in 
1852, by the Hon. Geo. Underwood, then M. A. The 
only Auburn trustees wei'e, however, Harvey A. 
Sackett, apon whose representations the project was 
undertaken, E. E. Marvine, Z. M. Mason, James 0. 
Derby, I. F. Terrill, John H. Chedell, and William 
Hosmer, the remaining seventeen being appointed 
from the friends of education in other places. A feel- 
ing of local pride was thus aroused, which led to an 
amendment of the act of incorporation, and the ap- 
pointment of the following board of trustees : ISTathan 
S. S. Beman, Isaac ]^. Wyckoff, Henry Mandeville, 
Geo. W. Patterson, Ferdinand C. D. McKay, Matthew 



2S(> HISTORY OF AUIJURN. 

tlie trustees of the Auburn Academy signified to the 
Board their interest in tlie establisliment of a High 
School, and agreed to co-operate, if tlie project was 
undertaken. The matter was then generally agitated. 
In the winter of 1865-G, enterprising men took the 
movement in charge,. and secured the law that enabled 
them to carry it into effect. The Principal of the 
High School was by the law made secretary of the 
Board of Education. To this important and respon- 
sible position, Warren Iligley, A.M., of Auburn, was 
elected in the spring of 1866, The herculean task of 
classifying and grading the pupils of the district 
i^chools was instantly undertaken by Mr. Iligley, as 
])reliminary to the opening of the High School. The 
task accomplished, or partially so, the High School 
went into operation in January, 1867, commencing 
with seventy-seven scholars. The institution was a 
success from the beginning, and, without question, ex- 
<;eeded all that had ever l)een claimed for it by the 
most sanguine of its friends. This result, however, is 
justly attributed, uot only to the excellence of the 
l»lan upon which this school is conducted, but to the 
signal ability and painstaking efforts of its Principal, 
Mr. Iligley. To him, more than to any other man, is 
the successful establishment of the Auburn High 
School due. To the regret of the people of Auburn. 
Mr. Higle}^ relinquished the position of Principal in 
the s]»ring of 1808. He was succeeded bv Prof. E. A. 



GENERAL PROGRESS. 287 

Charlton, of Schenectady, a gentleman of great repu- 
tation and ability. 

The Anbnrn Female Seminary, situated on the 
north-east corner of Genesee and Washington Streets, 
after being prosperously conducted for ten j'^ears, was 
destroyed by fire in 1849. The necessity of seeking 
educational advantages for their daughters at distant 
schools, then befell the inhabitants of this place. This 
being attended with great expense and inconvenience, 
gave rise to the project of establishing another institu- 
tion here for female education, to be, however, of a 
higher order than the one destroyed, and on a more 
extensive scale. The importance of the work secured 
the co-operation of the prominent citizens of Auburn ; 
and an act incorporating the Auburn Female Uni- 
versity, was finally secured in the Legislature, in 
1852, by the Hon. Geo. Underwood, then M. A. The 
only Auburn trustees were, however, Harvey A. 
Sackett, upon whose representations the project was 
undertaken, E. E. Marvine, Z. M. Mason, James C. 
Derby, I. F. Terrill, John H. Chedell, and William 
Hosmer, the remaining seventeen being appointed 
from the friends of education in other places. A feel- 
ing of local pride was thus aroused, which led to an 
amendment of the act of incorporation, and the ap- 
pointment of the following board of trustees : ISTathan 
S. S. Beman, Isaac ]^. WyckofF, Henry Mandeville, 
Geo. W. Patterson, Ferdinand C. D. McKay, Matthew 



JIISTOliY OF AUBUKN, 



L, P. Thompson, ^ N. Eeardsley, John H. Chedell, 
Benjamin F. Hall, Thomas Y. Howe, Jr., I. F. Ter- 
rill, John W. Haight, Charles V. Wood, E. E. Mar- 
vine, John Curtis, James C. Derby, Z, M. Mason, 
Charles F. Coffin, and Henry Underwood. The erec- 
tion of the University buildings, on the land lying at 
the north-east corner of North and Lansing Streets, 
now owned by Judge Humphreys, was contemplated. 
A large subscription was raised in the city, to aid the 
work. Mr. Sackett even started a school, in anticipa- 
tion of the speedy accomplishment of the project. 
This gentleman, however, subsequently joined with 
others to have the location of the University changed 
from this city, and at length succeeded in having it so 
changed to Elmira, where the institutioji was soon 
afterward built. 

The movement for the erection of this University in 
Auburn attracted general attention in the State ; and 
in the winter of 1853, by invitation of the Kev. Henry 
A. JSTelson, Mortimer L. Browne, Esq., then teaching in 
Syracuse, accompanied by E. J. Hamilton, from Bath, 
X. Y., came to this city, with a view of entering into 
the movement. Several meetings for consultation 
with prominent citizens were held at the office of Hon. 
George Underwood. An unusual stringency in finan- 
cial affairs occurring soon after, the gentlemen named 
abandoned the idea of opening a school in Auburn, 
Mr. Browne receiving and accepting the appointment 



GENERAL PROGRESS. 289 

of superintendent of public schools in Syracuse, and 
Mr. Hamilton being called to the principalship of the 
High School at Oswego. 

In the winter of 1854, Winthrop Tappan, Esq., a 
young gentleman of ability, from Augusta, Maine, 
visited Auburn in pursuance of a design of carrying out 
the long-talked-of project of a female school. Find- 
ing the citizens disposed to lend him their aid, he 
opened a school at once in Corning Hall block. 
Meeting with great success, Mr. Tappan visited Syra- 
cuse the following spring, and proposed to Mr. Brown- 
an associate principalship of the school he had founded, 
which he called the Auburn Young Ladies' Institute. 
The school was to be transferred to the city hall, when 
that building should be remodeled and adapted to edu- 
cational purposes. Mr. Brown accordingly resigned 
his position in Syracuse, and in May, 1855, accepted 
that offered by Mr. Tappan. During the three years^ 
of the joint principalship of these gentlemen, the In- 
stitute was essentially a day-school, few boarders being 
received into their families. In the spring of 1858, 
Mr. Tappan retired from the Institute, which has since 
been conducted under the sole management and con- 
trol of his associate. In 1859, Mr. Brown purchased 
the property on IS^orth Street, known as the Good- 
win Place, and so enlarged and improved it, as to 
provide pleasant and convenient accommodations for 
about twenty-five young ladies, who should become 
11 



290 HISTORY OF AUBUKN. 

members of Ins family and attendants at the Institute. 
The grounds connected with his residence were beau- 
tifully laid out and adorned with choice shrubbery. 
A prominent feature of this school is the attention 
that has ever been given to the physical culture of ite 
pupils, saddle and carriage horses being gratuitously 
provided for their use, and regular exercise in the open 
air being enjoined upon all. The latter is insured by 
the separation of the home from the day-school. With 
regard to the studies pursued at the Young Ladies' In- 
stitute, it will be sufficient to state that Mr. Brown 
aims in his plan at usefulness rather than display, at 
thorough mental training, and at " refinement of man- 
ners, and permanent excellence of character." The 
Institute has been uniformly prosperous, and has cer- 
tainly won for itself a deservedly high reputation, 
both at home and abroad, for thorough and elegant 
culture, and for positive and elevating religious influ- 
ences. It does not share the school appropriations of 
the State, since it is not under the care of the Regents 
of the University ; neither has it asked nor received 
assistance from the citizens of Auburn. Its success is 
due solely to intrinsic merit. 

The great natural capabilities of the bold eminence 
known as the Fort Hill, in the western part of Auburn, 
which, by reason of the beauty of its groves, its promi- 
nence as a point of observation, and the enchanting 
views of the villases and lakes of the county, that 



GENERAL PEbGRESS. 291 

might be canglit from its top, formerly caused many 
-of our citizens to indulge the hope that the hill might 
ultimately be converted into a park, came, about the 
years 1845 and '50, to be the subject of more general 
remark. At the dates mentioned, the hill was visited 
by the antiquarians, Henry E. Schoolcraft and E. G. 
Squier, respectively, who caused it to be surveyed by 
James H. Bostwick, mapped and described, and 
brought before the public as possessing a great histori- 
<3al interest. The hill had, in tlie flight of time, become 
the property of Thomas Y. Howe, Jr., of Auburn, and 
George W. Hatch, of New York, and lay, gathering 
rust, beino; used for none other than the common 
chance occurrences of the village, such as a target 
shoot, a political convention, or the celebration of the 
national anniversary. As the thoughts of the inhabi- 
tants, however, reverted to the mysterious associations 
connected with the venerable fortification in the grove, 
and to the memory of the ancient builders, respect for 
both led them to demand that this earthwork should 
be saved from the hand of innovation, and itself and 
recollections perpetuated by a devotion of the grounds 
to some public purpose. Mingled with this idea, were 
other considerations. The old cemetery on North 
Street liad, by the vicissitudes of over half a century, 
become crowded with the graves of the dead, and 
more room for another cemetery was required. Fort 
Hill was fitted by nature for just this purpose. 



292 HISTOBY OF AUBURN. 

On the 15th day of May, 1851, Thomas Y. Howe, 
Jr., Wm. C. Beardsley, Michael S. Myers, Hugo B. 
Rathbun, John L. Watrous, Josiali N. Starin, George 
Underwood, and George W. Hatch, met at tlie office 
of Mr. Howe, and organized the Fort Hill Cemetery 
Association of Auburn, under the State law of April 
27th, 1847, providing for the incorporation of such 
bodies. The number of trustees of the association be- 
ing fixed at twelve, the following were duly chosen as 
such : En OS T. Throop Martin, Thomas Y. Howe, Jr., 
James C. Derby, Benjamin F, Hall, William C. 
Beardsley, Isaac S. Allen, Cyi'us C. Dennis, Zebina 
M. Mason, Nelson Beardsley, John H. Chedell, M. S. 
Myers, and John W. Haight. The trustees were then 
separated by lot into three classes, in order that one- 
third of the Board might be elected thereafter annual- 
ly. A conveyance of the hill was received by the 
association from Messrs. Howe and Hatch, for the 
nominal sum of one dollar, and certain other considera- 
tions therein expressed, on the 25th day of August, 
1851. 

The grounds having been inclosed and partially 
cleared of rubbish by Messrs. Hall and Derby, com^ 
mitteemen, the receiving vault constructed, and the 
cemetery received several occupants, the hill was for- 
mally consecrated to the purpose of the burial of hu- 
man remains on tlie 7tli of July, 1852. Michael S. 
Myers pronounced the introductory address in the pres- 



GENERAL PROGRESS. 293 

ence of an interested concourse of the people, which 
was followed by the singing of an ode composed by 
Henry Oliphant. The Eev. W. A. G. Mellen read 
selections from the Scriptures ; these in turn were fol- 
lowed by an ode from the pen of the Eev. J. M. Aus- 
tin. The exercises were closed by an impressive ad- 
dress from the Rev. Laurens P. Ilickok, president of 
the Auburn Theological Seminary. 

The preliminaries over, the trustees addressed them- 
selves to the business of improving the hill. Lots 
were laid out in every direction, convenient drives and 
walks built, the lawns were cleared of brush, and all 
withered trees and branches removed. The hill was 
divided into sections, each of which received an ap- 
propriate name. The rude old embankment, over- 
grown with turf, was carefully preserved. Upon a "^ 
slight mound in the center of the fort, which had long 
attracted public attention, and was supposed to be the 
remains of an ancient earthen altar, there was erected, 
in 1852, through the efforts of one of the trustees, a 
monument, fifty-six feet high, of dark limestone, as a 
mark of respect to the memory of the celebrated Tah- 
gah-jute, or Logan. The northern face of this shaft 
bears a marble slab with the inscription, " Who is 
there to mourn for Logan ? " About the monument 
there was planted, in the spring of 1853, with the as- 
sistance of the writer, a quantity of ivy vines, taken 
from the walls of the old Episcopal Church. The 



294 HISTORY OF AUBURN. 

trustees, availing themselves of the experience of the 
authorities of Greenwood Cemetery, in New York^ 
counseled taste, variety, and durability, in all inclo- 
sures and monuments. Ordinances were adopted for 
their protection, and for the perfect seclusion of the 
grounds. The Legislature provided that no public 
highway should ever be laid out across the hill. 

The council-ground is situated in the foreground of 
the cemetery, and upon the left of the winding road 
by which visitors attain the top of the hill. It is a 
beautiful open lawn, sloping gently eastward from the 
old fort, and lies upon the northern brow of the height. 
It is the only spot on the hill which presents a view of 
Owasco Lake. " It was termed the council-ground by 
the topographer of the cemetery, on account of the , 
general impression that it was the spot where the an- | 
cient Cayugas assembled for deliberation." 

Mount Auburn is the name given to the j^bold bluff 
or mount on the right of the entrance road, or Cayuga 
Avenue, as it is called, on the northern front of the 
cemetery. The city, with its groves and gardens, lies, 
spread out at the feet of the observer from this point,, 
in the midst of charming scenes, which extend in every , 
direction as far as the eye can reach. It was originally 
the intention of the founders of the cemetery to erect 
a tower upon the summit of this section for the pur- 
poses of observation. 

That section of the cemetery which is circumscribed 



GENERAL PKOGKESS. 295 

by the old pentagessimal fortification is termed Fort 
AUeghan. The arrangement of the burial lots and 
walks conform to the circular shape of the fort, and to 
the position of the lofty monument which adorns its 
center. 

Mount Yernon lies west of Fort AUeghan. It is an 
elevated but secluded point, may be conveniently ap- 
proached by drives and walks, and appears to have 
been used in times past by the savages themselves as 
a burial-ground. The skeletons of numerons aborigi- 
nes have been exhumed here, all being found in a sit- 
ting posture. The section is named from some resem- 
blance that it bears to the grounds about the tomb of 
Washington. 

laurel Hill is a projecting spur of the hill, lying 
dirjctly south of the last-named section, and is a spot 
renarkable for its natural beauty. 

jlount Hope is the style of an eminence selected 
by Geo. W. Hatch, as the site of a monument, which 
he proposed to erect to Hope, It is situated on the 
soithern declivity of the hill. 

The three glens, called respectively Glen Haven, 
Gen Cove, and Glen Alpine, lie beyond the table of 
tie hill, upon its southern face. They are all seques- 
t<red and romantic spots, surrounded by the most 
teautiful scenes. They are esteemed choice places for 
iurial purposes. The three glens are termed " the 
poetry of the cemetery grounds." 



HISTORY OF AUBUilN. 



The movement of the mill-owners of Auburn, forty 
years ago, for improving, deepening, and cleaning out 
the channel of the Owasco Outlet, aimed not only at 
preparing the stream for navigation, and making its 
great hydraulic power usable, but at storing up in the 
lake, by means of gates or dams, the surplus waters of 
the rainy season, for the use of the mills at the twenty 
or more dams on the stream, in the autumnal months. 

One hundred thousand acres, according to the care- 
ful estimates of the accomplished engineer, Wm. |B. 
Yedder, Esq., shed their waters into the Owasco Late, 
including the area of the lake itself, which is seventy- 
four hundred acres. Upon the surface of this trict 
there falls annually a quantity of rain and snow (mdt- 
ed), shown by observations taken regularly, for tweity 
years, at the academy in the city of AubmTi, to aver- 
age thirty-five and six-tenths inches in depth. Ihe 
greatest rain-fall recorded during this period was fifty 
inches in depth ; the least, twenty-one. The taal 
average available yield of water, per year, is abait 
4,500,000,000 cubic feet, l^ow, could this yearly si|p- 
ply be stored up in the lake, as it falls, and be pir- 
mitted to flow forth at a uniform rate, an average daiy 
yield would be obtained, at the dams on the outlet, >f 
12,300,000 cubic feet, or 8,540 cubic feet per minut^. 
This is an ample allowance for turning all the wateK 
■wheels in Auburn. 

But, at the time mentioned, the daily draft uponi 



GENERAL PROGRESS. 29T 

the lake was not in any manner controlled. The top 
of the upper dam was a foot and an half below mean 
Mgh-water mark. The lake regularly discharged the 
surplus waters, accumulated in the spring, during that 
season and the summer, at a rapid rate through an 
open outlet, and its surface fell, at the approach of 
autumn, to the level of a sand-bar at its foot, when the 
flow ceased, or nearly so. A period of five months, 
varying somewhat in length with the season, was 
therefore unfailingly brought around, when the current 
of the outlet became so sluggish and feeble as to be in- 
sufficient to drive the machinery of the manufactories 
at the dams fully, thereby causing many injurious in- 
terruptions and suspensions in manufacturing. 

In January, 1830, Henry Polhemus, Asaph D. 
Leonard, and Allen Warden, three of the principal 
millers of Auburn, determined to apply to the Legisla- 
ture for an act which should enable them to remedy 
the difficulty by giving them power to erect a gate in 
the outlet near the lake, and to maintain an average 
depth of water on the shallows at the foot of the lake 
of twenty inches during the entire year. They gave 
public notice of their intention to apply for this law. 
The movements of the Auburn and Owasco Canal 
Company promising to effect the desired end, by deep- 
ening the outlet at its head, the gentlemen mentioned 
left it for the company to accomplish. But it was 
overlooked in the complications of business affairs that 



298 HISTORY OF AUBURN. 

followed close after the erection of the big dam, and 
the millers again took it in hand. 

In ISil-T, the regular recurrence of a season of low 
water in autumn was perceived to inflict great damage 
on three important public interests ; that is to say : the 
mills along the stream ; the Erie Canal, of which the 
Owasco was a feeder ; and the State prison, which 
furnished hydraulic power, by agreement, to certain 
contractors, and which drew water for culinary pur- 
poses from the State dam. The dry season, by ren- 
dering the water in this dam impure, unfitted it for 
use, and, in fact, made it so offensive that the citizens 
at one time petitioned the Legislature to have the dam 
removed. 

The deed to the Auburn Woolen Company of a site 
and privilege at the big dam, dated March 1st, 1847, 
conveyed the right to the comjDany of drawing down 
the water at the upper dam, whenever the creek was 
low, provided that it should by its agents so deepen the 
bed of the stream above the last-named point, that there 
should be a flow four feet in depth from the lake. 
An examination of the outlet during the summer of 
'47, by the agent of the woolen company, and by 
Josiah Barber, and William Eeach & Co., parties who 
were equally interested in the condition of the stream, 
revealed impediments in several places in its channel 
and the serious obstruction at its head in the shape of 
the sand-bar, which was some thirteen hundred feet 



GENERAL PEOGEESS. 29& 

wide. An improA^ement was undertaken by these par- 
ties at their own expense. The bottom of the creek 
was lowered four feet below the level of the top of the 
dam, by blasting out the rock for a thousand feet up 
stream from the dam, and by the removal of certain 
smaller quantities of stone and debris and some of the 
bends above. At the same time, the formation of an 
artificial channel through the sand-bar, from the mouth 
of the outlet to deep water, was attempted under the 
supervisipn of E. P. Williams. Rows of piles were 
driven into the bar each side of the channel, which it 
was proposed to board up, to prevent the return of the 
sand after the excavation had taken place. The futil- 
ity of the latter proceeding was, however, so quickly 
demonstrated, that it was not perfected. The treach- 
erous nature of the bar precluded the possibility of 
permanence in this part of the work. The improve- 
ment was therefore left at this point, the gentlemen 
named above having expended upon it the sum of nine 
thousand dollars. The State subsequently paid one 
thousand dollars for the benefit conferred by the im- 
provement upon the water-power at the prison. 

For the grand improvement of 1852-'5, the manu- 
facturers of Auburn are indebted, in no small degree, 
to the gentlemen who, in the year first stated, were roll- 
ing the ball for a water-works company. The forma- 
tion of such a company was opposed, as tending to dimin- 
ish an already scanty supply of water (during autumn) 



300 HISTORY OF AUBURN. 

in the outlet. The necessities of the Port Bjron level 
of the Erie Canal required that the flow of the Owasco 
should not fail in the dry season. A fourth interest 
had then arisen in the matter of improving the outlet, 
and its influence aided materially in securing, on the 
9th day of April, 1852, the passage of the following 
law : " The sum of seven thousand dollars, or so much 
thereof as may be necessary for that purpose, is hereby 
appropriated, and shall be paid by the comptrollers out 
of any moneys in the treasury, for the removal of the bar 
at the foot of the Owasco Lake, and the improvement 
of the outlet of said lake ; the sum appropriated for 
this purpose shall be expended and applied under the 
supervision and direction of the agent of the State 
prison at Auburn, and the mayor of said city." On 
the 15tli, a law was passed making it the duty of the 
State engineer and surveyor, then the Hon. William 
J. McAlpine, to cause to be made the necessary maps 
and estimates. 

"William B. Vedder, resident engineer of the middle 
division of the ]^. Y. S. Canals, was detailed to per- 
form preliminary work. Having surveyed the outlet, 
and the foot of the lake, and made all necessary ex- 
aminations, he, on the 30th of August, furnished the 
mayor, the agent, and the commissioners, with a report 
embodying the results of his surveys, with maps, and 
suggestions in relation to the manner of the proposed 
improvement, and estimates of the cost of eight difier- 



GENERAL PROGKESS. 301 

ent modes of effecting the same, the eight modes, how- 
ever, being simply variations of three distinct plans for 
producing a more uniform discharge of water from the 
lake, and of increasing the flowage of the outlet in the 
fall of the year. These plans were, viz : 

Firstly, Such excavations in the bed and banks of 
the outlet as should make its channel forty feet wide, 
with a bottom, from the lake to the upper dam, four 
feet below the level of the top of the dam, and the 
cutting of a new channel twenty-five feet wide on the 
bottom, from the head of the outlet through the sand- 
bar to deep water in the lake. 

Secondly, the removal of obstructions in the creek,, 
as by the first plan, and the excavation of an entirely 
new channel across Hubbard's Point, and thence on 
through the sand-bar to deep water as before ; and 

Thirdly, the building of banks along the shores of 
the lake at the foot, and a gap in the creek, for the 
purpose of raising the surface of the lake three feet 
above low-water mark. 

The first two plans were designed to gain command 
of some portion of the vast stores of water in the lake 
that remained when its surface had fallen to the level 
of the sand bar, upon which no draft could otherwise 
be made ; and which, in case of being drawn down, 
could be replaced at the next wet season. The third 
plan proposed to furnish storage for all the waters that 
ran into the lake, control them, and enable mill-own- 



302 HISTORY OF ADBURN. 

ers to use them when needed, bj throwing open the 
gates in the creek. 

After a thorouc^h examination of Mr. Vedder's re- 
port, the Auburn commissioners decided to open the 
channel of the creek by clearing away all logs, flood- 
wood and debris, so as to give a four-feet flow ; to dig 
a channel through Hubbard's Point to the lake, four 
feet in depth, and twentj'-eight in width on the bot- 
tom, the sides being faced with stone; to excavate 
across the bar a similar channel, protected on either 
side by moles or banks made from the earth and mate- 
rials taken out of the cuts, covered with stone as rip- 
rap, and provided at the outward ends with piers for 
ice and water-breakers ; to close the old channel with 
a bank ; and to erect a flood-gate near the junction of 
the new channel and the outlet. 

Colonel Olivar C. Hubbard, of Owasco, conveyed to 
the commissioners the necessary right of way, and con- 
tracted to perform the work. It was then the time of 
low-water. Operations began, therefore, at once. The 
total length of the new channel from the verge of the 
sand-bar to the outlet was estimated at about twenty- 
three hundred and eighty feet. Of this ten hundred 
and twenty feet were excavated in 1852-3. Seven 
hundred and sixty-two more were dug, in 1854, under 
contract, by the eminent engineer, James H. Ledlie. 
Cofler dams were erected to protect the cuttings 
during the periods of high-water, and the State ap- 



GENERAL PEOGBESS. 303 

propriated six thousand four hundred and eightj-iive 
dollars further toward the completion of the work. 

The improvement, though then unfinished, was of 
extraordinary value to the State in the fall of 1854. 
The summer had been excessively warm and dry, and 
many small streams utterly failed in the severity of the 
drought. To preserve continued navigation upon 
our State Canals, was a subject of the deepest per- 
plexity. Boats were frequently detained by low water 
on some of the levels, and great losses resulted thereby 
both to traders and the State. The stoppage of a 
single day was at this busy season disastrous. The 
Canal Commissioners allude, in their annual report to 
the Legislature, in January, 1855, to thedifiiculty they 
experienced of obtaining water at the Port Byron 
level. They exhausted all the reservoirs at their com- 
mand, and then they ordered the commissioners at 
Auburn to throw open the new cut at the Owasco Lake, 
in order to relieve the canal. This was their last re- 
source. The channel in the sand-bar was cut down to 
maintain the supply, and navigation was thus preserv- 
ed uninterrupted. It is certain that the State wfs 
saved in this manner at least the sum of thirty thou- 
sand dollars. 

The Canal Commissioners finished the work on the 
outlet in 1855, with the aid of an additional appropri- 
ation of ten thousand dollars. Two features of the 
original design were not carried out. The raising of 



304 HISTORY OF AUBURN. 

the surface of the lake, by means of a gate, three feet 
above low-water mark, it was discovered, would over- 
flow three hundred acres of timber land at the head of 
the lake ; by raising it five feet, five hundred acres of 
timber, and eighty acres of meadow land would be 
overflowed, the level of the swamp being but two and 
one half feet above low-water mark. The gate, there- 
fore, was not built, as intended, nor was the old chan- 
nel, above its junction with the new, closed. 

An act of April 15th, 1857, authorized the Canal 
Commissioners to appropriate, whenever they chose, the 
upper dam on the outlet to the use of the State, and 
raise it to a height sufiicient to efi^ct all the purposes 
of a gate in the channel. This was never done by 
them in any permanent manner. But they are now 
causing the new channel to be deepened and enlarged, 
and cleared of quicksand in a way which will render 
the raising of the dam entirely unnecessary. The 
present improvement was begun in November, 1868, 
by contractors from the city of Syracuse. 

The formation, by wealthy citizens, of a stock com- 
pany to secure the advantages of a steady and ample 
supply of pure water to the city of Aubnrn, by laying 
subterranean pipes from some spring or reservoir to 
and through every street and ward, was attempted in 
1851, by the enterprising Hon. Thomas Y. Howe, Jr., 
who had succeeded in obtaining from the Legislature,, 
on the 19th of April, a charter investing himself, and 



GENKKAL PKOGRESS. 305 

General John II. Chedell, Abijali Fitch, Daniel Hew- 
6on, Samuel Blatcliford, Hon. Aurelian Conkling, Cy- 
rus C. Dennis, Jolin Tatty, Wm. B. Wood, John E. 
Patten, George Clapp, Hon. John Porter, Isaac S. 
Allen, Edwin E. Marvine, John Curtis, and Benjamin 
Ashby, with needful authority in the premises. 

This was an old but untried scheme. It had at- 
tracted attention in Auburn tAventy years before, aris- 
ing primarily out of the necessities of the State pris- 
on. That institution had been, up to 1822, furnished 
with water, by means of a forcing-pump, from the 
adjoining pond in the outlet. But the pond became 
stagnant ev^ery w^arni season, and in winter it froze. 
Pure water was urgently needed. Search was made 
for a spring near by. One being found on the lands 
of Dr. Joseph Cole, on North Street, an expensive- 
aqueduct of tamarack logs, bound with iron, was laid 
therefrom to the prison. This spring was, for many 
years, the principal resource of the prison for' whole- 
some water. In 1829, the surveys that were being 
made upon the outlet for those having in view the ca- 
nal project, had reference also to the n:iatter of laying 
pipes from the proposed canal, if it should be built on 
the level of the lake, down to the prison, and where- 
ever needed in the town, to meet the imperative de- 
mand for good water. But it ^vas estimated tliat 
water from the level referred to would no more than 
run into the second story of the Western Exeliange, 
18 



306 HISTORY OF AUBURN. 

and, as the custom of the prison alone would not sup- 
port a company, the enterprise had failed. 

Mr. Ilowe's company encountered the opposition of 
every interest affected by the state of the Owasco Out- 
let. It was not till the improvement upon that stream 
had been fully completed that a second attempt could 
be made. 

On the 19th of April, 1859, the Legislature gave the 
Auburn Water- Works Company a new and ^ample 
charter, designating the following gentlemen as the 
first Board of Directors: William Beach, Theo. Di- 
mon, Benj. F. Hall, George W. Peck, Franklin L. 
Sheldon, Albert H. Goss, William H. Carpenter, John 
S. Clark, and Paul D. Cornell. The company was 
not to be dissolved by reason of any failure to hold an 
annual election on the day appointed ; an election on 
any subsequent day was to be valid, if held in proper 
form. The directors were unable to organize for active 
operations until the spring of 1863. A quorum then 
met in the office of Mr. Goss, and, as empowered by the 
charter, filled the places of absent and deceased mem- 
bers of the board, and paved the way for work. It 
was resolved, on the 15th of December, to open books 
for subscriptions to the capital stock of the company. 
The whole, amounting to $100,000, was taken in twelve 
hours. An election resulted in the choice of directors, 
as follows : Edward H. Avery, president ; Albert H. 
Goss, secretary and treasurer ; Elmore P. Ross, S. 



GENERAL PROGRESS. 30Y 

Willard, M.D., Theo. M. Pomeroy, Cyrus C. Dennis, 
Josiah Barber, Harmon Woodruff', and George W. 
Peck. 

The great obstacle that the project had tlius far en- 
countered was the difficulty of obtaining a sufficient 
elevation for a reservoir. Fort Hill, the east hill, the 
old camp-ground on Moravia Street, and the first hill 
in Fleming, on the South Street road, had severally 
been inspected for a location, and found to possess 
none suitable for the purpose. A set of works at 
Lockport, erected by B. Holley & Co., that employed 
pumps instead of reservoirs, gained the attention of the 
company at this point. A committee was sent to ex- 
amine them. They were working admirably, and the 
directors were strongly recommended to adopt the 
new system, for it was well adapted to overcome the 
only obstacle to the entire consummation of their pur- 
poses. This was accordingly done. The construction 
of the pump and superintendent's house, the dam, and 
raceway of the company was commenced in April, 
1864. In August, Messrs. Holley & Co. began put- 
ting in the machinery and works. A call for the pay- 
ment in part of subscriptions of stock was made Sep- 
tember 7th. 

The laying of the mains was commenced in Septem- 
ber, 1865, under contract, by the E^ew Jersey Compa- 
ny, which emploj^ed pipes of boiler iron, coated within 
and without with its own patent cement, an experi- 



308 HISTORY OF AUBUKN. 

ment with log pipes having demonstrated their unfit- 
ness for the purpose. The work was vigorously prose- 
cuted till the month of December, when the water was 
turned on at the pump-house, and distributed through 
the principal streets of the city, through 22,930 feet ot 
mains. Both pipes and works were tested, and proved 
sound. In 1866, 18,048 feet of mains were laid, in 
addition to the above ; in 1867, 26,804 feet more ; and 
in 1868, sufficient to make the total length of main 
pipe laid about fourteen miles. 

The Water-Works Company is now in the full tide 
of successful operation. Its pipes underlie every ward 
and district of our city, afford an unfailing and copious 
supply of spring-water at thousands cf faucets, for do- 
mestic purposes, keep, during the summer, scores of 
fountains in perpetual play, and, at one hundred and 
thirty-live street hydrants, furnislies the prompt and 
certain means of extinguisliing the most dangerous 
hres. The attractions of residence, and the security ol 
property, in Auburn, have been so happily increased 
in this manner, that the Water- Works Company is 
entitled to, and has indeed won the golden opinions 
of all our citizens. 

The corporation known as the Auburn Gas-Light 
Company was formed on the 11th day of January, 
1850, with a capital of $20,000, by Eowland E. Kus- 
sell. Captain George B. Chase, Benjamin F. Hall, 
Adam Miller, Philip E. Freoff; Wm. H. Van Tuyl, 



GENERAL PKOGRESS. 309 

Thomas IIoadlGj, J. S. Bo wen, Albert G. Smith, 
Thomas Y. Howe, Jr., I. F. Terrill, Andrew Johnson, 

E. B. Cobb, H. G. Ellsworth, Z. M. Mason, Horatio 
Robinson, and Paul D. Cornell, to engage in the manu- 
facture of gas for the purposes of illumination for the 
period of fifty years, by taking the legal steps set forth 
in the general law of February 16th, 1848, as necessary 
to the formation of such companies. The first Board of 
Directors, composed of Captain George B. Chase, Z. M. 
Mason, P. P. Freoff", Benjamin F. Hall, Paul D. Cor- 
nell, H. G. Ellsworth, Wm. H. Yan Tuyl, Adam Mil- 
ler, and E. T. Russell, met at the ofiice of Benjamin 

F. Hall, in Auburn, on the 14th of January, and or- 
ganized, electing Mr. Chase for president ; Mr. Hall, 
secretary ; Mr. Mason, treasurer ; and Thomas Hoad- 
ley, engineer and superintendent. 

Illuminating gas was first manufactured in Auburn 
at the mills of the Auburn Woolen Company, where 
works were erected and the whole process tested, un- 
der the direction of Thomas Hoadley and Michael 
Kavanao-h. The advantao-es of this means of illumi- 
nation being shown to be great, the proposition was 
made to introduce it to the city by Mr. Hall, Mr. 
Hoadley, and Captain Chase, and met with such uni- 
versal satisfaction, that the company to effect it was 
formed without the slightest difiiculty. 

From amongst the large number of hydro-carbons 
esed at the time in other cities for the generation of 



310 HISTOKt OF AUBURN. 

light gas, all more or less costly, the blubber and sedi- 
ment of sperm oil, a concrete fat technically called 
" whale's foots," was selected by the directors as capa- 
ble of producing the richest, purest, and cheapest gas ; 
to bargain for a supply of which. Captain Chase, fa- 
miliar with all things pertaining to the sea, was imme- 
diately dispatched to ISTantucket. A contract for a 
regular supply of the raw material for ten years, at 
tifty cents a gallon, was easily made. The gas factory 
was built during the summer on ground lying opposite 
the prison, purchased from the State. The site was 
the lowest within convenient distance of the chief 
business streets of the cit}'. The retort and gas houses 
were both frame buildings. The machinery and works 
were put in under the personal supervision of that 
practical and competent engineer, Mr. Hoadley, whose 
long experience in gas-making, not only at the woolen 
mills, but in ISTew York and England, rendered his 
services very valuable to the company. One bench ot 
three retorts, and a gas-holder with a capacity of six 
thousand cubic feet, was the extent of the factory. 
Michael Kavanagh, the veteran gas-maker of Auburn, 
was employed to conduct the manufacture. 

At this point, the usual strong repugnance to the use 
of gas, founded upon a mistaken notion that it was dan- 
gerous and unwholesome, was manifested in Auburn. 
This repugnance was of course in no respect lessened 
bv the general indifference and disfavor with which 



GENERAL PEOGHESS. 311 

gas was regarded by a number of worthy citizens, wlio 
perceived that the new innovation upon the customs 
of their forefathers was about to consign girandoles 
and snuffers to the company of things gone by, and 
eclipse the candle and oil business. The sentiment, 
however, gave way as the public became better in- 
formed as to the properties of gas. During August, 
1850, a main conductor pipe was laid in State Street, 
running from the works north to the prison, and south 
to the head of the street, and thence down Genesee to 
the bridge. On the evening of September 1st, the gas 
was turned on for the first time, and lit in the prison 
and the stores, at two hundred lamps. The gas was a 
nearly inodorous, highly carbureted compound, con- 
taining about twenty-two per cent, of olefiant gas, and 
emitted at each two-feet burner the light of twenty- 
three mold tallow candles. Seven cubic feet of this 
gas was produced from every pound of blubber, and 
though then worth ten dollars per thousand cubic feet, 
cost only one-tenth the price of candles. The people 
admired its light, and pronounced it good. 

A defect in that machine at the works, called the 
mixer, led to an unfortunate accident, the very first 
night of active operations. "When the flow from the 
works into the city was stopped by putting out the 
lights, the mixer was reversed, and threw the gas back 
into the retort-house, wliere it ignited, and destroyed 
the buildings. This unfortunate affair was a heavy 



312 HISTORY OF ALBUK.N. 

blow at the infant enterprise. With remarkable vigor, 
liowever, the company re-erected the works at once. 
The machinery was restored, and the whole factory 
made stronger and better than before. The gas was 
again turned on on tlie 1st of October. 

Notwithstanding the conceded superiority of oil gas 
over any other, the company made no money in its pro- 
duction." In the conrse of certain experiments, made by 
the engineer with the hydro-carbons, with the view of 
commencing manufacture from a less expensive ma- 
terial, it was satisfactorily sho^^^l that gas might be 
made from rosin, a material then widely nsed for the 
purpose, cheaper than from whale's foots. The rosin 
was easily obtainable at the cost of thirteen or fourteen 
shillings per barrel of three hundred and ten pounds, 
each pound of which was capable of generating six cu- 
bic feet of a gas that was worth eight dollars per 
thousand. The gas needed little purification, burned 
with a vivid light, and without smoke, and required 
little or no change in the works for its manufacture. 
The way for a change from oil to rosin being prepared, 
by a report from the Nantucket dealers that they were 
unable to furnish whale's foots on the original terms, 
the directors authorized the change in the spring of 
1851, and communicated tlie fact to the secretary of 
the company, then in Washington, who visited the 
pine country of North Carolina, and made arrange- 
ments for supplying the factory with rosin. 



GENERAL PROGRESS. 313 

The popular j)rejudice against illumination by means 
of gas was sliort-lived. During the summer of 1851, 
the main pipes were extended from the gas-works in 
various directions through tlie principal streets of the 
city, and branches were carried into most of the public 
buildings, stores, and large residences. The safety of 
the new light, its brilliance, and the immense amount 
of labor that it saved, especially in lighting the streets, 
insured its success. The business of the company 
grew rapidly, though the large sums of money necessa- 
rily invested by it, in laying pipes through the city, 
and enlarging its works, prevented for several years 
the payment of dividends to shareholders. From time 
to time, the capital was increased, and the company's 
range of operations was at length extended, by begin- 
ning the manufacture of varnish, lamp-black, and nap- 
that from the refuse of the retorts. 

The new works for making gas from coal were 
erected a few rods south of the original buildings, 
in 1860, to gratify the desire of the public for a 
cheaper gas than that manufactured from rosin. The 
company urged the numerous objections against the 
use of coal gas in vain. The people were satisfied that 
it was cheaper to use a diluted gas, and they threat- 
ened to form a competing company in case they could 
be supplied with it in no other way. An entirely new 
and enlarged set of works were accordingly built, at a 
cost of about fifty thousand dollars. They now con- 



314 HISTORY OF AUBUUN. , 

tain twenty-two clay retorts, eacbi holding a charge of 
fifteen hundred pounds of coal, which are arranged in 
six benches, and are capable of producing fifty thousand 
cubic feet of gas daily. The gas-holder has a capacity 
of thirty-five thousand cubic feet. The works are 
under the experienced direction of Mr. Kavanagh and 
his assistants, Daniel Tehan and Patrick McCartin, who 
have been connected with the business nearly from the 
commencement. The oversight of the business is in- 
trusted to Henry S. Dunning, superintendent, and 
David M. Dunning, secretary and treasurer. The 
daily consumption of gas in the city varies with the 
season and the weather. The average consumption in 
the summer is fifteen thousand cubic feet a night ; in 
winter it is thirty-five thousand. Leakages amount to 
ten or fifteen per cent. The gas is burned at about ten 
thousand lamps. 

The history of railroad projects in Auburn comprises 
sketches of twelve difierent schemes for creating direct 
lines of railroad communication between Auburn and 
other cities or other channels of trade, the building of 
which, with the cheapness of manufacturing here, it 
was expected, would make Auburn, in fact, the market 
town of the whole of Cayuga County, and by means 
of which her manufactures and the productions of the 
county might be quickly carried to their appropriate 
markets. 

Part of this history has already been given. Yet, it 



a GENERAL PBOGEESS. 315 

is presumed that a connected account of the origin, 
progress, and issue of each of the different projects will 
not, in this place, prove unuseful or uninteresting, for 
the record is full of exhibitions of honorable public 
spirit on the part of our citizens, and instances of ear- 
nest, self-sacrificing work, which, though not always 
successful, are fit to be remembered by the people of 
this city. 

One of the first effects of the completion of the Erie 
Canal, in 1825, was the giving a powerful impetus to 
the carrying trade upon the inland lakes in the in- 
terior of New York. Sloops and sailing vessels had^ 
from the times of the pioneers, filled these lakes, and 
flatboats and canoes their outlets and tributaries, trad- 
ing in salt, lumber, furs, and provisions, with the pop- 
ulous regions on the Susquehanna and the Mohawk.. 
All heavy movements of freight in the interior, were 
either to, or from the canal, forward from '25, and 
large accessions to the trade on the lakes followed. 

Private enterprise spontaneously undertook to con- 
nect these natural water-lines with the canal on the 
north, and the Susquehanna on the south. Railways 
from Ithaca to Owego, from Canandaigua to the canal, 
from the same village to Geneva, and from Auburn to 
the canal, and a canal from Owasco Lake to the Sus- 
quehanna, were projected as early as 1827 ; and the 
Legislatures of 1828 and '29 were besieged for char- 
ters for them, and for innumerable other lines of north 



316 HISTOKV OF AUBURN. 

and soutli railways and canals. Many of tliese were 
granted, and among them, charters for the canal and 
the railroad conceived in Auburn. 

The Port Byron and Auburn llailway Company 
was incorporated, April 17th, 1829, with a capital of 
$50,000, and was vested with the " sole and exclusive 
right to construct a single or doul)le railroad or way 
from the Erie Canal," at Port Byron, to the village 
of Auburn, the terminus at this end to be at some 
point near by the State prison. It was empowered 
to use either steam or horse-power on the road, and 
collect for every ton of goods transported over the line 
a toll of six cents per mile, and for passengers, four 
cents per mile. Hon. John H. Beach and Abijah 
Pitch, of Auburn, John Ilaring, of Mentz, and Denni- 
son Robison, Horace Perkins, and John I. Tremper, 
were designated as subscription commissioners. A 
line for the road was surveyed ; but it was found that 
the ascent from Port Byron was very heavy — some- 
thing over three hundred feet. This was a formidable 
obstacle, and, joined with the great labor of ordinary 
things for the construction of the road, when there 
were no models in America, except the little Quincy 
road in Massachusetts, and the unfinished line be- 
tween Albany and Schenectady, it stopped the enter- 
prise. 

The charter of the Auburn and Canal Railway 
Company left the location of the northern terminus of 



GENERAL PEOGRESS. 31T 

the line discretionary with the directors. The compa- 
ny was incorporated on the 24th day of April, 1832, 
in connection with a fresh eifort, in Auburn, to build 
the Owasco Canal. It drew to its support men of 
high standing in this community, among whom were 
Hon. John Porter, Hon. Wm. H. Sew^ard, Captain 
Bradley Tuttle, I^athaniel Garrow, Ambrose Cock, 
John Patty, Stephen Yan Anden, Abijah Fitch, Cap- 
tain George B. Chase, Ira Hopkins, and I. S. Miller. 
This road would, undoubtedly, have been built at 
once, to either Port Byron or Weedsport, had not its 
friends found that a connection with the canal at the 
village of Syracuse was much more profitable. 

That it will eventually be built, down the gorge of 
the Owasco Outlet to Throopsville and Port Byron, 
may be safely inferred from two facts : the mill-owners 
in both places have found it necessary ; and a company 
of energetic men has been organized, with a capital of 
$400,000, to carry it through. This company was 
formed in January, 1869, with the following manage- 
ment : William Hayden, of Anburn, president ; G. H, 
Bardwell, of Philadelphia, vice-president ; B. S, 
Bunting, of a!sew York, secretary and treasurer ; H. 
A. Wainwright, T. B. Bunting, Charles A. Stetson, 
Jr., Howard Bunting, Charles A. Wilson, Franklin 
Ellis, L. D. Hutchins, of I^ew York ; J. C. Kerr, of 
Philadelphia ; Robert A. Packer, of Wilkesbarre ; and 
S. B. Kendrick, of Port Byron, directors. 



318 HISTORY OF A.UUURN. 

Forty thousand dollars have already been subscribed 
toward its stock, wliich is about one-half of what the 
contractors ask to be raised before they commence 
work. The contractors guarantee to finish the road 
in one hundred days after they break ground. A 
speedy commencement is anticipated, additional sub- 
scriptions being received daily. The object of the 
road is the development of large and unoccupied 
hydraulic privileges on the Owasco Outlet, and good 
communication with the Erie Canal. Many of its 
friends anticipate its continuance, at no distant day, 
through the towns of Conquest, Butler, Wolcott, and 
Huron, to Big Sodus Bay, and, if sufiicient induce- 
ments are offered, its extension southwards, over the 
60-called Murdock line, toward the coal-fields ot 
Pennsylvania. 

The Auburn and Syracuse E. R. Co., formed in 
Auburn under a law dated May 1st, 1834, with a capi- 
tal of $400,000— subsequently increased to $600,000— 
laid a track composed of wooden ribbons to Syracuse, a 
distance of twenty-five and three-fourths miles, which 
was operated from January 8th, 1838, to June, 1839, 
by means of horse-power. The road was finished at 
the last-named date, with the aid of a loan of $200,- 
000 from the State. Iron rails then replaced the 
wooden ones, and locomotives the horses. 

The Auburn and Rochester R. R. Co. was chartered 
on tlie 13th of May, 183G, with a capital of $2,000, 



GENEKAIi PEOGEESS. 319 

000, The stock was largely taken by the energetic 
capitalists of Boston, who, with great foresight, were 
aiming to connect their city by a direct line of rail- 
roads with Lake Erie and its vast commerce. The 
road was built from Rochester eastward, and was com- 
pleted to Auburn, and thrown open to traders and 
travelers on the 4th of November, 184:1. It accommo- 
dated the residents of an immense district in the inte- 
rior of the State, by touching, as by law ordered, the 
northern extremity of these fine navigable lakes. It 
also formed, with others chartered in 1836, a con- 
nected line of railroads from Buffalo to Albany. 

All railroad projects in Auburn, subsequent to the 
last mentioned, bore reference to the construction of 
roads from this city to Lake Ontario on the north, and 
the ISTew York and Erie Railroad on the south. 

The first of these originated in the village of Ithaca, 
whose people, after trying in vain to raise the funds 
for the purpose of building a road to Geneva, invited 
the co-operation of the citizens of Auburn in the 
scheme of a line between Ithaca and this place. A 
charter for a company, undei: the style of the Ithaca 
and Auburn R. R. Co., was obtained on the 21st of 
May, in 1836, a year prolific beyond parallel in railroad 
schemes, the capital stock being fixed at $500,000. 
The company was required to lay its track through the 
villages of Groton HoUow, Milan, and Moravia, and 
to finish it in four years. IN^athaniel Garrow, (xeorge 



320 HISTORY OF AUBURN. 

H. Tlirooj), Dr. Hichard Steel, Cliauncey L. Grant, 
Lewis Moss, Sylvanus Lamed, Hiram Becker, Minos 
McGoram, David D. Spencer, John Giles, Hislom 
Bennett, and Franklin AVilloufyliby, were the incorpo- 
rators. 

Daring the fall and winter of 1S36, prominent citi- 
zens of Auburn planned a road to Little Sodus Bay, to 
be built and operated in connection with the one to 
Ithaca, when made. A petition for a charter M'as cir- 
culated through the town, and arrangements were 
made for carrying it before the Legislature. 

The bankruptcy and ruin of the following year 
ended both projects suddenly. 

About the year 1846, the rapid progress of the 'New 
York and Erie Railroad toward completion was the 
subject of much comment in all places of size on the 
chain of roads through Northern and Central New 
York. The officers of the northern roads were 
then discussing the propriety of consolidating and 
straightening their lines, to prepare for competi- 
tion. The bearing of all these movements on the 
welfare of Auburn was a matter of the deepest inter- 
est to her citizens. The office of Hon. T. Y. Howe, Jr., 
then the treasurer of the Auburn and Syracuse R. R. 
Co., was the place where all these questions were dis- 
cussed by railroad men. From this point emanated 
numerous theories as to what was demanded by the 
times, for the maintenance and enrichment of our city. 



GEKEKAL PEOGKESS. 321 

Communication with the Erie railway was there re- 
vived as practicable and profitable. An ofier was made 
about this time by the Cayuga and Susquehanna R, E. 
Co., to relay its track and fit it for an increased amount 
of business, if the citizens of Cayuga County would 
construct a new line from Auburn to some point on 
its road. The laying a road between Auburn and 
Ithaca by way of the valley of Salmon Creek seemed in 
every respect feasible. 

A company was formed to eifect the line early in 1848, 
by Hon. Thomas Y. Howe, Jr., General John H. Che- 
dell, Rowland T. Russell, Alfred Avery, Samuel BuU^ 
Edwin Avery, William Beach, John T, Rathbun, Ira 
Hopldns, Ebenezer Mack, Worthington Smith, Ezra 
"W. Bateman, Slocum Howland, Leonard Searing, 
Henry W. Sage, Henry S. Walbridge, Nathan T. Wil- 
liams, Hiram S. Earrar, John Thompson, Moses F. 
Fell, Lyman Murdock, George Rathbun, and others,, 
under the general railroad law. An act declaring 
the public utility of the road was passed on the llth 
of April. Several public meetings were held in Au- 
burn to promote subscriptions to the stock of the com- 
pany. But a paltry sum was obtained. The Cayuga 
and Susquehanna road failing to construct the new or 
double track agreed to, the enterprise made no further 
advance. 

It was next alleged that a road to Binghamton was 
highly desirable, both from the connections that could 
19 



322 HISTORY OF AUBUEN. 

be made at that village, and from the fact that the dis- 
tance to New York from Auburn would be twenty 
miles shorter than by any other route existing or pro- 
posed. This idea had its say. It prevailed to such an 
extent that a company was formed to efiectuate it. 
An act of the 6th of March, 1849, declaring the 
public use of the proposed line, mentions the following 
incorporators : Samuel Blatchford, Hon. George 
Underwood, Gen. John II. Chedell, Benjamin F. Hall, 
Erastus Case, Abijah Fitch, Charles F. Coffin, Hon. T. 
Y. Howe, Jr., Cyrus C. Dennis, Josiah Barber, David 
Wright, Daniel Hewson and John L. Watrous. The 
scheme was, however, impracticable, and soon took its 
place among the unfulfilled good intentions of the 
people of Auburn. 

In 1852, a passive belief among our citizens in the 
usefulness of a railroad which should connect Auburn 
directly with the iron and coal regions of Pennsyl- 
vania, with the vast lumber regions of Canada, and the 
commerce on the great lakes, gave way to a settled 
conviction that the true interests of this city im- 
peratively demanded its immediate construction. 

The Legislature having empowered the authorities 
of Auburn to loan $100,000 to any company that 
should build a railroad from Lake Ontario to any point 
on the Erie road, and having also empowered the 
towns along the line severally to loan the company 
the sum of $25,000, a meeting of the people of Ca- 



GENERAL PROGKESS. 823 

juga County was called and held at the court-house in 
Auburn, April 20th, 1852, to take action in the matter. 
A committee, composed of John M. Sherwood, Joshua 
Burt, George B. Chase, Gen. Isaac Bell, David Hume, 
Hobert Cook, Benjamin F. Hall, Hiram S. Farrar, 
Moses T. Fell, Lyman Murdock, and Worthington 
Smith, was appointed to collect the arguments in favor 
of the contemplated road for the public information. 
An able report was soon after made and published. 
It was distributed widely in pamphlet form. 

The articles of association of the Lake Ontario, Au- 
burn, and Kew York Railroad Company were adopted at 
a numerously attended adjourned meeting at the Auburn 
court-house, on the 2d day of July, 1852. They were 
filed with the Secretary of State on the 23d of August. 
The Company organized, with a capital of $1,500,000, 
electing the following earnest and enterprising direct- 
ors : Hon, Tho's Y. Howe, Jr., president ; Benj. F. 
Hall, secretary ; Joshua Burt, treasurer ; Rowland 
F. Russell, Worthington Smith, Hiram S. Farrar, 
Moses T. Fell, Oliver C. Crocker, Lyman Murdock, 
Gen, Isaac Bell, David Cook, and Robert Hume. 

Levi Williams, Esq., a gentleman of great reputation 
and experience as an engineer, was employed to sur- 
vey the road, the termini being Fair Haven and Pugs- 
ley's station. A feasible route was selected early in 
August, and, on the 24th, contracts were made with 
Andrew J. Hackley, Marcus Ilungerford, Jason Can- 



324 HISTORY OF AUBUBN. 

dee, John A. Dodge, and Henry D. Dennison, for the 
performance of the grading and mason-work. Rights 
of way were obtained, through tlie agency of <;ommit- 
tees, for fifty-six out of the seventy-three miles in the 
length of the road. Construction was pushed energet- 
ically from the fall of 1852 till the winter of '54. The 
sum of $375,000 had then been expended upon the line, 
thirty-four miles of which were fenced, graded, and 
ready for the rails. The entrance to the harbor at 
Fair Haven had at the same time been improved, by 
means of an U. S. appropriation of ten thousand dol- 
lars, under the supervision of Lieut. Col. TurnbuU, of 
the Topographical Engineers. 

The natural obstacles in the way of the construction 
of the Lake Ontario, Auburn, and New York Railroad 
were very slight ; the financial obstacles were formida- 
ble. The finance committee of the Board of Direc- 
tors, in summing up the resources for continuing the 
work, found that over one hundred and fifty thousand 
dollars of original subscriptions to the stock were 
uncoUectable, save by compulsion. The times were 
stringent and the money-market close. The contrac- 
tors were pressing for payment of arrears. Two hun- 
dred thousand dollars, in addition to a small amount 
of still unpaid but reliable subscriptions, was impera- 
tively needed to advance the work to completion. 

The crisis called forth the prompt and earnest ef- 
forts of every friend of the enterprise. A meeting of 



GENERAL PROGRESS. 325 

the stoekliolders was held in Auburn, on the 9th of 
IN'ovember, to consider the affiiirs of the company and 
provide for the prosecution of the work. General 
Phineas Ilurd presided. The situation was thoroughly 
discussed. It was unanimously resolved thaj; the work 
must go on. Five stockholders from every town on 
the line of the road were appointed to solicit further 
subscriptions, and the directors were authorized to sue 
for all arrears of payments on stock, and declare delin- 
quent subscriptions forfeited. The directors, however, 
were loth to resort to these summary measures, and 
they did so in very few instances. They could not 
postpone the catastrophe. Retrenchment was the cry, 
and then, suspension. The company was obliged to 
succumb in March, 1855. 

The directors at this date were Abijah Fitch, presi- 
dent ; Benjamin F. Hall, secretary and treasurer ; Rob- 
ert Hume, General Isaac Bell, Adam Miller, Hon. 
Christopher Morgan, William Beach, Franklin L. Shel- 
don, Lyman Murdock, Moses T. Fell, Joseph Pettitt, 
Darius Cole, and Richard G. Brownell. The}^ reluc- 
tantly prepared for the appointment of a receiver. 
The report of the chief engineer, Orville C, Hartwell, 
embodying the details of the existing condition of the 
road, and its prospects, was published for future use ; 
and a mortgage upon the road-bed and rights of way 
was executed to General Isaac Bell, to secure him and 
others for loans made use of in construction. Joshua 



326 HISTORY OF AUBURN. 

Burt was soon afterward appointed receiver, and the 
company dissolved. Its property passed into the 
hands of General Bell. 

The second Lake Ontario, Auburn, and New York 
R. R. Co. was organized in 1856, for the object of 
finishing the urgently needed road. The directors 
were Kathan C. Piatt, president ; Gen. Isaac Bell, 
vice-president ; John C. Kayser, secretary ; Adam W. 
Spies, Alexander Fraser, of New York ; Frederick 
lOett and James S. Keen, of Philadelphia ; Charles 
P. Wood, Elmore P. Ross, Dr. Richard Steel, and 
Adam Miller, of Auburn ; D. E. Havens, of Weeds' 
port ; Lyman Murdock, of Venice. Stockholders in 
the old company were allowed to save their subscrip- 
tions by taking an equal amount of stock in the new. 
"Work was re-commenced on the line, and the grading 
north of the Seneca River was nearly completed. Af- 
ter the outbreak of the civil war, nothing further 
could be or was accomplished for a number of years- 
There had been, in 1862, spent upon the line, in all,, 
the sum of $449,541. 

The project of finishing the road as originally de- 
signed, from the harbor of Fair Haven to Pugsley's 
station, was at length agitated by Hon. George I. Post, 
of Sterling.* But the people of Moravia, Groton, 
and Dryden, feeling at this time the need of a rail- 

* For the following notes on the Southern Central the author is indebted to 
J. Milton Brown, Esq., first assistant engineer of the Anbnm division of the- 
road. 



ftENEEAL PKOGKESS. 327 

road, requested the above named gentlemen, with Cy- 
rus C. Dennis, a resident of Auburn, of great railroad 
experience and practical ability, to first explore the 
valley in which those towns were situated, with an eye 
to the expediency of building the railroad therein. 
Accordingly, they started on an exploring expedition, 
passed through the valley through which now runs the 
Southern Central, examined the country from an engi- 
neering point of view, and ascertained the feeling of 
the inhabitants toward the project of the road. The 
result was decidedly favorable. They found that the 
road could be built with a minimum amount of capi- 
tal, that the grades would be easy, and that the towns 
would assist heartily in raising stock, and would fur- 
nish a large local business after the road was built. It 
remained only to present to the people the advantages 
of connection with the various coal and commercial 
regions of the south, and the manufacturing and pro- 
ducing regions of the north and west, to insure their 
general interest and co-operation. 

On the 9th of August, 1865, a meeting was held in 
Owego. Hon. Thomas Farrington presided. Ad- 
dresses were delivered by Messrs. J. W. Dwight, J. 
"W. Montgomery, of Dryden ; C. C. Dennis, George I. 
Post, of Aubm-n ; John J. Taylor, Lyman Truman, of 
Owego ; and Wm. S. Lincoln, of Newark Yalley ; and 
it was decided to hold a railroad convention at Au- 
burn. The meeting appointed Hon. George I. Post 



328 HISTORY OF AUBURN. 

a committee to call the same, which he did, on the 6th 
of the following month. The convention was held on 
the day appointed, Charles P. Wood, of Auburn, being 
chairman, and II. N. Lockwood, of Victory, and T. C 
Piatt, of Owego, secretaries. Reports were received 
from Owego, Newark Yalley, Berkshire, Richfurd, Har- 
ford, Dryden, Groton, Mora-via, Auburn, Weedsport, 
Cato, Conquest, and Sterling. J. N. Knapp moved that 
the meeting proceed to organize a company to build 
dri the proposed route. A committee was accordingly 
appointed to determine what action should be taken 
in the matter. Auburn being represented therein by 
John ]S^. Knapp, Josiah Barber, C. C. Dennis, "Wm. 
H. Seward, Jr., and Wm. Gray Wise. A report in 
favor of the immediate organization of a railroad com- 
pany being received by the meeting, the following 
gentlemen were elected its directors : John J. Taylor, 
Thomas C. Piatt, of Owego ; Wm. S. Lincoln, ot 
ISTewark Yalley ; Hiram W. Sears, of Dryden ; Ililand 
K. Clark, of Groton ; Wm. Titus, of Moravia ; Charles 
P. Wood, Wm. H. Seward, Jr., Cyi'us C. Dennis, 
Wm. C. Barber, George J. Letchworth, of Auburn ; 
John T. Knapp, of Cato ; and George I. Post, of Ster- 
ling. C. C. Dennis, in response to the call of the 
meeting, gave the road the name of the Southern 
Central. 

Messrs. M. Goodrich, George I. Post, and II. W. 
Sears were designated a committee to draw up arti- 



GENERAL PEOGBBSS. 329 

cles of association ; and George I. Post, John J. Tay- 
lor, and C. S. Kicli, a committee to prepare a memo- 
rial, setting forth the feasibility and advantages of the 
proposed road, which memorial was afterward ably 
prepared and published. 

After the convention had adjourned, the directors 
met, and elected Cyrus C. Dennis president ; John J. 
Taylor, vice-president ; Wm. H. Seward, Jr., treasurer ; 
and George I. Post, secretary. 

At a meeting of the board, held October 2Yth, 1866, 
it was resolved to raise funds for a preliminary survey, 
and negotiate for the old road-bed. Books of subscrip- 
tion to the capital stock of the company were opened 
January 4th, 1866. The subscription^ on the 29th of 
December, 1866, amounted to $106,400, and on the 
16th of IS^ovember, 1867, to $1,868,250. 

Fred. E. Knight, Esq., of Cortland, who, as Chief 
Engineer, had superintended a survey of the route, is- 
sued an able report to the directors, January 4th, 
1866. This report, among various other things, set 
forth the convenience of the harbor of Fair Haven, enu- 
merated the sources of business to the road, and gave 
the advantages afforded by and to the towns and villa- 
ges through which the road would pass. It also showed, 
from actual measurement, that the grades were remark- 
ably light, and the curves easy. Mr. Knight estimated 
the cost of the road, including equipments, to be $2,992,- 
642, or the average cost per mile, $30,413, — the dis- 



330 HISTORY OF AUBURN. 

tance from Fair Haven to Owego being ninety-eight 
and four-tenths miles. This estimate was based upon 
a survey that contemplated running on the east side of 
Owasco Lake. The route was afterwards changed to 
the west side, which was found to be still more favor- 
able. 

On the 7th of April, 1866, the Legislature, to facili- 
tate the construction of the Southern Central Railroad, 
passed an act to authorize towns to subscribe to its 
capital stock. The act permitted subscriptions to any 
amount within fifteen per cent, of the assessed valua- 
tion of the taxable property of the towns, whenever the 
consent of tax-payers, representing more than one-half 
of that taxable property should be obtained. This con- 
sent was obtained from the tax-payers of Auburn, and 
certified to on the 9th of August, 186T, the amount ot 
stock to be taken by the city being $500,000. In ac- 
cordance with the provisions of the act, Adam Miller, 
Elmore P. Eoss, and Charles P. Wood, were designat- 
ed by the Hon. "Wm. E. Hughitt, County Judge, as 
commissioners to issue the bonds. Mr. Ross having, 
subsequently, retired from the board, Josiah Barber 
was appointed in his stead. The first bonds were is- 
sued in the fall of 1867. The subscriptions of stock 
then amounted to $2,000,000, It had been deemed 
prudent by our tax-payers that no bonds should be is- 
sued until a perfectly reliable basis of that amount had 
been secured. 



GENERAL PEOGEESS. 331 

The Presidency of tlie Southern Central was left 
vacant in the spring of 1866, by the death of C. C. 
Dennis, an officer universally respected for his integ- 
rity, and driving, energetic spirit. 

J. Lewis Grant, Esq., was unanimously elected to 
the vacant post, June 19th, 1866. At the time of 
entering on his connection with this company, Mr. 
Grant had had more than twenty years' experience in 
railroad matters. A blacksmith and machinist by 
trade, he had become connected with the ITew York 
Central Eailroad in 1841, in the capacity of freight 
conductor. He was afterward locomotive engineer, 
and had risen through every grade of office to that of 
Superintendent. In tliis capacity, he had managed the 
Rome and Cape Vincent Railroad, the I^orthern Rail- 
way of Canada, and the Lake Shore Railroad, and 
with marked ability. He had found the Canadian 
road on the verge of bankruptcy ; but he left it one 
of the best paying lines in the Province. The accept- 
ance by Mr. Grant of the presidency of the Southern 
Central was therefore hailed with general satisfac- 
tion. 

Having obtained the services of Ed. F. Swort, Esq., 
of the Brocton and Corry Railroad, an engineer of 
the very best reputation and ability, Mr. Grant started 
south, in company with Geo. I. Post, to examine the 
old Lake Ontario, or Murdock line. At Yenice, Lyman 
Murdock, formerly a director in the L. O., A., & N". Y. 



332 HISTORY OF AUBURN. 

R. R. Co., joined the party, which proceeded to Ithaca 
via Lansing. On consulting with influential men along 
the route, it was discovered that little faith remained 
in the success of the old road, and that, with the ex- 
ception of the exertions put forth by a few of its 
heaviest stockholders, no effort would be made to com- 
plete it. it was found, furthermore, that only a por- 
tion of the lightest work had been done ; that at Fall, 
Cascadilla, and Six Mile Creeks, bridges would have 
to be constructed which alone would cost more than 
many miles of road through the more favorable 
country on the line of the Southern Central. Adding 
to this the fact that the people of Ithaca refused all aid 
whatever to a road north, till the branch south of them 
to Waverly via Spencer should be completed, it was 
readily seen that there was every reason for adhering 
to the Southern Central, for which so much had 
already been done, letting fm*ther operations develop 
the Murdock line. The latter was not, however, 
without earnest supporters, who continued a somewhat 
heated advocacy of its merits, long after the completion 
of the road on the other route had become an acknowl- 
edged fact. 

On the 15th of May, 1867, a law was passed by the 
Legislature, exempting the town bonds, issued in favor 
of the road, from taxation for ten years from the date 
of issue, provided that the road should be put in run- 
ning order within three years from the date of the act. 



GENERAL PROGRESS. 333 

About the middle of June, ' 67, an engineering 
party was organized, for active operations ; various 
lines were surveyed through the city of Auburn, and 
the line located from Seneca River to Dryden. A sec- 
ond party located the line from Dryden to Owego, 
the construction of which was commenced in ISTovem- 
ber, '67, by Donald Eobertson, contractor, under Fred. 
E. Knight, Chief Engineer. North of Auburn, the 
road-bed of L. O. A. and K. Y. R. E. was used, the rights 
and franchises of the old company having been pur- 
cl^ased in July, '67. 

At a meeting of the stockholders of the Southern 
Central on the 2d of September, 1868, directors 
were elected for the ensuing Tyear, namely ; J. Lewis 
Grant, president ; John J. Taylor, vice-president ; 
Wm. H. Seward, Jr., treasurer ; Hon. Homer K. 
Lockwood, secretary ; David M. Osborne, General 
John H. Chedell, Kelson Beardsley, Wm. C. Barber, 
Harmon Woodruff, T. C. Piatt, C. L. Rich, J. W. 
Dwight, Hiland K. Clark, and John T. Knapp. 

A great deal of work has been done all along the 
line since the beginning of active operations. It is 
confidently expected that trains will run from Seneca 
River to Owego before the close of the working season 
of 1869. 

Soon after the close of the war of 1861-5, which had 
given a powerful stimulus to many kinds of business, 
but none perhaps to such a degree as to those of the 



334 HISTORY OF AUBUKN. 

carrying trades, enormous profits were made by the 
various express companies of tliis country, and compe- 
tition was thus awakened. The Bankers' express — a 
company in which the stock was taken by bankers, 
and the business limited to the carrying of money and 
valuables — was organized in the autumn of 1865, but 
soon became merged into the old companies. 

It was then thought by some of the citizens of Au- 
burn, that an opportunity was offered to establish, with 
success, a new company, based somewhat upon the 
co-operative system of labor : that, as the merchants 
of the United States were the principal patrons of the 
express, a plan, which should unite them as stock- 
holders in a business in which they themselves were the 
largest customers, would secure eminent success. 

Accordingly, in the spring of 1866, the Merchants' 
Union Express was organized, with Elmore P. Ross, 
president ; William H. Seward, Jr., vice-president ; 
John 'N. Knapp, secretary ; William 0. Beardsley, 
treasurer ; Hon. Theodore M. Pomeroy, attorney ; an 
Executive Board, viz : Major-General H. W. Slocum, 
Elmore P. Ross, Elliott G. Storke, William C. Beards- 
ley, Clinton T. Backus, William H. Seward, Jr., and 
John A. Green, Jr. ; and a Board of sixteen Trustees, 
or Directors, namely : 0. B. Farwell ; Clinton Briggs, 
of Chicago ; John ITazro, of Milwaukee ; T. U. Mc- 
Millan, of Cleveland ; W. E. Schwertz, of Pittsbury ; 
Henry Lewis, T. A. Caldwell, of Philadelphia; Theo- 



GENEKAl, PROGRESS. 335 

dore M. Pomeroy, of Auburn ; John How, Barton 
Able, of St. Louis ; M. I. Mills, of Detroit ; L. 0. 
Hopkins, Gr. T. Steadman, of Cincinnati ; and Aaron 
Brinkerlioff, J. Trumbull Smith, and W. A. Budd, of 
Kew York. 

The capital was placed nominally at twenty millions 
of dollars, but the stock was to be assessed only to such 
an extent as the necessities of the business required. 
As was anticipated, the stock was speedily taken ; so 
great was the demand, that the amount to be sub- 
scribed by a single merchant was limited, and so thor- 
oughly was the stock distributed, that the company 
boasted of its ten thousand stockholders. 

Though harassed by its rivals on every side, and 
retarded by the magnitude of the undertaking, such 
was the energy displayed, that on the first of October, 
1866, the company was running its cars over the prin- 
cipal 'railways, and before the commencement of 1867, 
Auburn became the center of a net-work of express 
lines, which extended into every city and nearly every 
town of the northern States. The number of persons 
in its employ exceeded three thousand. The business 
done by the company became enormous ; but, owing to 
the depressed rates of compensation, occasioned by the 
deadly competition with other lines, the losses were as 
enormous. Like the venerable lady, who vended her 
wares at a price below the cost of production, and only 
made herself good by the amount of sales which she 



336 ' UISTORY OF AUBUEN. 

made, so were the losses of tlie company proportion- 
ately greater, as the amount of business transacted was 
larger. 

Such a ruinous competition could not be sustained 
by either side ; and, after the capital of every company 
had been greatly impaired, a compromise was effected. 
Although the losses were gi*eatly diminished, it was 
found necessary, to ensure a profitable business and 
even a continuance of existence, for the four com- 
panies who were at this time dividing losses and pro- 
fits, to reduce to a still greater degree their expenses. 
To accomplish this, on the Urst of December, 1868, a 
union of the American with the Merchants' Union was 
made, under the style of the American Merchants' Un- 
ion Express Company. 

The history of the company has thus been briefly 
outlined down to the present time. It would not be 
too much to say, that no other project has caused the 
name of Auburn to be so widely known, or has cen- 
tered here so much of foreign interest. The number 
of persons to whom it has given employment, and the 
large sums of money which it has here received, han- 
dled, and disbursed, have, without a doubt, materially 
advanced the interests of our city. And when we con- 
sider the immense capital of the Merchants' Union Ex- 
press Company, its ten thousand stockholders, its three 
thousand employes, and its extensive business, we 
may safely assert that the company has made good its 



Gl-NFEAL PROGRESS. 337 

claims to be the grandest enterprise of wliicli Aiibnrn 
can boast. 

The celebrated Obwego starch factory, though locat- 
ed in a neighboring city, njay with great propriety be 
included with the enterprises of the citizens of Au- 
burn. Here the company was organized, here the 
trustees— with the exception of Thomas llingsford, 
Esq. — reside, and here all the financial and official 
business of the company has always been transacted. 

In March, 1848, four citizens of Auburn united with 
Mr. Kingsford for the purpose of manufacturing 
starch ; and tliese, with others, were organized on the 
first day of April, under an act of the Legislature, 
passed February 16th, 1848. Their names were, viz : 
S. "Willard, M.D,, Erastus Case, Nelson Eeardsley^ 
Alonzo G. Beardsley, Roswell Curtis, Albert II. Goss, 
Theodore P. Case, Thomas Kingsford, and Augustus 
Pettibone. Dr. Willard was elected president of the 
company, a position which he still retains. A. G. 
Beardsley, Esq., was secretary from the first organiza- 
tion, and has been treasurer for the last twelve years, 
before which that officer's duties were performed by 
the president. 

Mr. Kingsford was, in 1848, a resident of the State 
of Kew Jersey, and favorably known as a manufac- 
turer of an unequaled quality of starch from corn by 
a process which his own inventive skill had originated, 

the secret of which he retained. Prior to his experi- 
20 



33s lllriTOUV OK AUBUKN. 

meats with corn, first begun in 1842, the starch of 
trade had been manufactured from wheat or from 
potatoes. A factory was built at Oswego by the newly 
organized company, which at the time \vas considered 
unusually large ; Mr. Kingsford and son were put in 
charge. At first, the stockholders were but few, and 
the capital only $50,000. Now, there are more than 
one hundred and fifty stockholders, scattered over 
several States, the majority, however, being in Au- 
burn ; the buildings are more tlian quadrupled, and 
the capital stock is nine times the amount with which 
the company commenced. 

The factory is concededly the largest manufacturing 
establishment of its kind known of in the world. 
Without personal inspection, it is difiicult to obtain a 
correct idea of its magnitude, its capacity, and the 
amount of its productions. The original structure of 
wood has been succeeded by several immense build- 
ings, composed of brick, stone, and iron. The main 
building is 515 feet long, by 200 feet wdde, varying 
from two stories high to seven stories. It has 478,000 
feet of flooriup', beinsi; more than sufficient to cover 
eleven acres. There are 675 cisterns, having an aggre- 
gate capacity of 3,000,000 gallons, for the purpose of 
cleansing the starch from every conceivable impurity. 
The length of gutters for distributing starch, while in 
a fluid state, to various parts of the works, is more than 
four miles. There are fifty large force-pumps for the 



GENERAL PROGKESS. 339 

supply of water, and for conveying the starch while in 
solution, which are capable of elevating 600,000 gal- 
lons per hour, and, as a protection against fire, several 
of these pumps are arranged to force through fire-hose 
125,000 gallons per hour, with sufficient power to 
throw eighteen streams of water over the top of the 
seven-story building. The pumps, which are worked 
by water-power, are connected with two and a quarter 
miles of water pipe, varying in size from sixteen inches 
to two inches in diameter. One pump alone cost six 
$1,000, and will throw a barrel of water at a stroke. 

For grinding the grain, there are twenty pairs of burr 
stones, and six pairs of very heavy iron rollers, with 
two miles of shafting, connected by 1,311 gear-wheels. 
There are over twenty miles of steam pipe for drying 
starch, and warming the building. 

The power of this establishment consists of ten tur- 
bine wheels of 50 horse-power each, and a steam en- 
gine of 200 horse-power. Its capacity is equal to the 
production of twenty tons of starch per day, which, at 
ten hours for a day, is an average of one ton of starch 
for each half-hour. The factory furnishes employment 
for 500 operatives. 250,000 pounds of wrapping pa- 
per, and 3,500,000 feet of lumber, are required annu- 
ally for packing and boxing the starch. The box fac- 
tory, an imposing brick structure, is owned by Messre. 
Kingsford & Son, who, by the recent improvements 
in machinery, are able,''''by one operation, to cut, mi- 



340 HISTORY OF AUBUKN. 

ter, and dove-tail the boards, so that no naihng is re- 
quired for the boxes, except the top and bottom. A 
large amount of the best grades of starch is packed in 
paper boxes, the material of which is cut and prepared 
by machinery. About 20,000 of these paper boxes 
are made daily. The packing of these boxes is per- 
formed by exceedingly ingenious machinery, of recent 
invention, which, with simulated intelligence, by one 
operation, packs with uniform shape, and weighs with 
reliable accuracy. 

The introduction of this great improvement in the 
manufacture of starch by Messrs. Kingsford & Son, is-\ 
an era in American manufacture. Previous to this in- 
vention, the starch made in the United States was of 
a very inferior quality. AVe were dependent on for- 
eign production for our supply of a good article. JS^ow, 
not only have all importations ceased, but foreign na- 
tions purchase largely of the Oswego starch. Orders 
come from every part of Europe, from South America, 
and Africa, and even from China and the Pa(dfic isles. 
At the World's Fair, held in Europe, with the whole 
world for competitors, the superior quality of the 
Oswego starch was frankly conceded by an award of 
a gold medal, in testimony of its highest order of 
merit. Prize medals were also won from the Ameri- 
can Institute, in the city of New York, from the New 
York State Agricultural Society, and from Boston, 
Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Montreal. 



THE AUBUKN PKISON. 341 



CHAPTER Y. 



THE AUBUEN PRISON. 



The history of this celebrated institution, and of the 
finished system of prison discipline whitch has made it 
and this city famous throughout the whole civilized 
world, is a topic worthy of the most able mind and 
pen. Embodying, as it necessarily does, some account 
of the origin, principles, and changes of the whole 
penitentiary system of this State, and a description of 
the most perfect plan of punishment ever conceived in 
this country or any other, the subject is one of consid- 
erable importance. It is, furthermore, one of unusual 
interest to the inhabitants of tliis city, since their lead- 
ing men were at different times connected with the 
prison in an official capacity, and, by their thoughts 
and experiments, aided materially in maturing and 
giving the Auburn system efficiency. It is strange 
that no one of these eminent men should have written 
the history of the prison. Such, however, is the case. 
The outlines of the subject are, therefore, here pre- 
sented. 

The criminal code in existence in this State at the 
time of the beginning of its republican government 



342 iriSTOKY OF aubukn. 

had many inhninan and sanguinary features. The 
most common offenses were punished by lashes at a 
public whipping-post, by branding, by the stocks, and 
by many unusual and degrading sentences, while six- 
teen heinous crimes, at least, were punished by death. 
Philanthropists throughout the State and country had 
detected the errors of this rigorous code, and were 
aiming to effect a radical change in the whole system, 
by reducing tke number of capital crimes, and abolish- 
ing cruel and disgraceful punishments. The reformers 
claimed that cruel punishments were never useful. 
For, they said, such corrections are practically a retal- 
iation, upon an offender, of the violence or injury he 
has committed upon a fellow-man. They have the 
nature of revenge, and certainly do not dispose their 
victim to abandon vicious habits, nor can they, in this 
respect, be sustained by just statesmen, who make 
laws to remedy evils, and not to gratify personal ani- 
mosities. The philanthropists represented that society 
only required that the punishments should be of a 
character to intimidate rogiues from the further com- 
mission of crime, for then the whole object of punish- 
ment would be accomplished ; and that any correction 
which publicly disgraced a man, or which, without 
putting him to open shame, left in his heart a desire 
for revenge, was a perfect failure, so far as its great 
end was concerned, since it only stimulated the man 
to further crimes, instead of animating him to retrieve 



THE AUBURN I'EISON. 343 

his character, and reform his life. They urged that 
the self-respect of the criminal should, in every in- 
stance, be preserved. These men were better under- 
stood when they drew aside the curtain that covered 
the infamous management of many of the prisons and 
jails of this country and of England. Their revela- 
tions led intelligent men everywhere to think that 
there was a necessity for reformation in the criminal 
code, and eventually effected great changes in the 
penal institutions of America. The horrors of the 
dismal Jersey prison-house had made the people of this 
republic sensitive on the subject of prisons. They 
therefore recoiled from everything in the prevailing sys- 
tem of punishments that bore the semblance of cruelty. 
"Within a very short time after the close of the Kevolu- 
tionary War, they had abolished the lash, the brand, 
and the stocks, and had greatly restricted the use of 
the scaffold. The history of the prisons of New York 
commences at this point. 

Governor Jay, in his annual message of January, 
1796, recommended the immediate erection of estab- 
lishments for the detention and reformation of crimi- 
nals, upon the plan already being tried at Philadelphia, 
of confinement and hard labor. General Schuyler 
framed a law accordingly, authorizing the construction 
of prisons at Albany and New York, which was passed. 
The Albany prison was never built, but the one at 
New York, known as Newgate, was commenced with- 



344 HtSTORY OF ALiruUUN. 

out delay, ami wa:? opened for tlie reception ot crimi- 
nals in I^ovember, 1797. 

The system first adopted here was in strict accord 
with the sentiment of the times, beyond which it was 
at no date advisable to go. The prison was a guarded 
stronghold within wliich the criminals were immured 
and employed at hard labor in the various branches of 
industry to whicli they were accustomed. The disci- 
pline was mild, and aimed to retbrm and elevate the 
criminal. Food was not stinted, nor the work excess- 
ive ; pay for overwork was generally allowed. The 
convicts were confined at night in apartments holding 
fi'om ten to twenty men. The effect of the prison 
upon the vicious classes of society was for many years 
so salutary as to M'in high encomiums from public men ; 
but familiarity invariably breeds contempt, and a bet- 
ter acquaintance with its operations rubbed off what- 
ever terror it had excited in the minds of felons. In 
1803, the officers of that"; institution reported that " no 
penal system in any State w^as less expensive, or more 
fully answered the intentions ":-of its founders. They 
say, however, in the next breath, '' there will soon be 
a want of room.'" The ]>rison was seven years old, 
yet crime was increasing. Its halls were speedily 
filled, and then packed, in which condition they be- 
came the class-rooms of infamy and vice. The unre- 
strained intercourse between the hardened and de- 
praved inmates of the cells destroyed every remaining 



fTHE AUBUKN PKISON. 345 

vestiffe ot virtue in their breasts. The vouusr, for 
whom, under more propitious circumstances, there 
might have been hope of reformation, were educated 
by veteran offenders in all the arts and practices of 
criminality, and returned upon their discharge to 
society as graduates from a college of crime. Felons 
multiplied with inconceivable rapidity. By 1808 the 
courts were sending such large numbers of men to the 
prison, that the exercise of the pardoning power by the 
Governor had become necessary to make room for 
them. In 1809, the number of pardons and commit- 
ments was equal, and the suggestion was first made of 
a new prison in the interior of the State. The erec- 
tion of this institution was hastened by the alarm felt 
in the city concerning the semi-annual visit of the 
Judges, by which the best of the criminals were sorted 
out as fit for pardon, and let loose upon society all at 
once. 

]^Totwithstanding the admitted defects of the New- 
gate system, the Auburn prison was founded in 1816, 
upon precisely the same plan. Haste in its construc- 
tion was used in order to relieve the crowded prisons 
and jails of the State. Its first involuntarj^ occupants 
were taken from the county jails of the interior to aid 
the work ot erection. The main building and south 
wing weie finished in 1818, and contained sixty-one 
double cells and twenty-eight apartments, holding 
from ten to twenty each, into which the convicts were 



346 iiiSTOKy OK auuukn. 

put as fast as they arrived. Workshops were erected 
in 1819-20, and the men were employed in them at 
custom work. Women were also received here from 
tlie first. They were confined indiscriminately in a 
large room in the soiith wing. 

These were the precise features of the punishment 
at Newgate, and met with precisely the same result. 
The freshly committed convict was only too certain to 
leave behind him as lie stepped into the polluted at- 
mosphere of his crowded cell all remaining decency 
and virtue. Pie was thoroughly^corrupted during his 
stay by contact with other felons, and he left the prison 
confirmed in viciousness. Insubordination in the 
work-shops was frequent, and two damaging fires 
warned the autliorities of tlie evils of looseness in 
discipline. 

The attainment of a successful prison system seemed 
at this point problematical. The authorities were al- 
most in despair. The necessity of making punishment 
sufiSciently terrible to arrest men in a career of vice, 
and the refusal of the public to assent to any disci- 
pline that was over-despotic or cruel, were the horns 
of a strong dilemma. The people were averse to se- 
verity, for cruelty was only a step beyond, yet if the 
prison experience of the convict did not restrain him 
from further crime, the prison would be simply a house 
of detention, and the end of punishment lost. Refor- 
mation had been declared to be the obi'ect of the abol- 



THE AUBUEN PRISON. 34:T 

ishment of barbarous punishments, and the adoption 
of a mild system. The law had recognized the impor- 
tance of reformation by allowing every convict a Bible 
and"every prison a chaplain. But upon a close search- 
ing of the operations of the mild system, the Legisla- 
ture of this State were unable to discover that they 
were beneficial. An examination of the prisons of 
Kew York and the one at Philadelphia in 1817, led 
Messrs. Burt, Eadcliff, and Taylor, who had been con- 
stituted a committee for the purpose, to express the 
deliberate conviction that the prison system of IMew 
York failed in its great object. In 1818, the Board of 
Inspectors at l^ewgate reported that that institution 
was " far, very far from answering the end intended ; " 
that a mild system seldom reclaimed the vicious, and 
that a better one must be devised, " not a mere plan 
of good living and light punishment, but of dread and 
terror ; " and that ^ though the prisoners were the 
" most abandoned and profligate of mankind," and 
steeled against virtue, two hundred and eighty of them 
had to be pardoned to make way for three hundred 
freshly committed, A subsequent legislative commit- 
tee declared " that upon the whole view of our State 
prison system as hitherto conducted, they were com- 
pelled to adopt the conclusion that so far as reforma- 
tion was concerned, it had wholly failed ; and not only 
so, but that it operated with alarming efficacy to in- 
crease, diffuse, and extend the love of vice," and a 



348 HISTORY OK AUUUKN. 

knowledge of the secret devices of villainy ; Ihat it 
obviously had no tendency to prevent crime. Further, 
that the system having, after twenty-five years of trial 
signally failed, and " having for that time spent our 
sympatliies and resources on the comfort of criminals, 
it was now our duty to look to and protect the inno- 
cent/' The committee " asserted the right of society 
to protect itself by any such means as may be mo&t 
efficient ; and they deny that tlie criminal who makes 
war upon mankind has in this respect any rights which 
are not subordinate to the rights of the injured com- 
munity." 

Since it was evident that the existing system of mild 
punishments did not discourage vice or lessen the num- 
ber of criminals, further demonstration of its hurtful 
•effects seemed scarcely necessary. I^or was it neces- 
sary. The astonishing multiplication of crimes, and 
the vastly increased losses of property throughout the 
State by felonies and malicious mischief, showed clearly 
enough that the rights of the " injured community " 
were now" boldly trampled on to an unprecedented ex- 
tent. The cause of the trouble was indiscriminate 
confinement in the prisons, and general looseness of 
discipline. Legislators determined to strike at the 
root of the evil and resort if necessary to the rigorous 
penalties in force in colonial days. They first made 
the experiment of solitary confinement. 

The change from indiscriminate confinement, though 



THE' AUBUKN PRISON. 34^ 

not an original suggestion of the states in en of ISTew 
York, was authorized by them in 1810, and was made 
for the first time in America at the Auburn prison 
early in 1821. The north wing was constructed on a 
plan elsewhere described, that permitted the locking up 
of the convicts at night in separate and solitary cells, 
between which there was no chance of communication 
without the certainty of detection and punishment, and 
from which it was impossible to escape. Sepai'ation 
at night was attended with hard labor during the day 
in large shops, in a compulsory silence that was main- 
tained by the presence of vigilant keepers, who were 
empowered to inflict lashes for every offense against 
order or the rules. ■ 

William Brittin, the first agent of the Auburn prison 
and the designer of the arrangement of solitary cells^ 
died in 1821, and was succeeded by Captain Elam Lynds,^ 
a veteran of the war of 1812, who lent his aid to the 
perfection of the new system. Captain Lynds was a 
soldierly man and a strict disciplinarian. He intro- 
duced the plan of marching the convicts to and from 
the shops, invented by John D. Cray, in single files 
with the lock step. He encouraged the use of the 
whip to maintain a perfect submission to the rules, and 
took every step allowed by law to make the institution 
a terror to evil-doers. His measures were, however, 
not overcharged with severity, though the bold course he 
pursued was calculated to oppress convicts theretofore 



S50 illBTORY OF AUBURN. 

unused to strict obedience. Among other things, 
Oaptain Lynds substituted the practice of serving the 
<;onvicts' meals in their cells for the previous custom of 
marching them to a common mess-room and giving 
them their rations there. This change created discon- 
tent among the men. At the common table, they often 
shared their food with each other, thus equalizing the 
wants of large and small eaters. They could not do 
this in the cell system, and many suffered from hunger. 
All complaints made in consequence were answered 
with the argument that the crimes of the convicts de- 
served the severest punishment, whicli it was not their 
keepers' business to mitigate. 

The classification of criminals was a measure au- 
thorized in the spring of 1821, in imitation of the plan 
pursued by the authorities at the Philadelphia prison. 
The criminals were to be separated into three classes, 
with different degrees of punislnnent. The most 
dangerous and impenitent, those particularly who 
were serving out a second or tbird sentence, composed 
the first class, which was doomed to constant confine- 
ment, in silent and solitary cells, with no companion 
but their own thoughts and, if the keeper saw fit to 
allow it, their Bible. The second class was to be se- 
lected from the less incorrigible offenders, and alter- 
nately placed in solitary confinement, and allowed la- 
bor as a recreation. The third and most hopeful set 
was to be permitted to work out the sentence of hard 



THE AUBUR2f PRISON. 351 

labor by day, and seclusion by night, as had previ- 
ously been the case with all. The second and third 
classes, however, were united as a third class. The 
separation of the first class from the body of the con- 
victs took place on Christmas-day of 1821. Eighty- 
three of the most hardened prisoners were committed 
to silence and solitude, in cells where they might 
neither see nor hear any but distant and chance occur- 
rences, and where they were never visited except by 
the physician or chaplain, or by a convict bearing the 
stated meal. The punishment of these men was 
dreadful. In less than a year five of the eighty-three 
had died, one became an idiot, another, when his door 
was opened for some chance purpose, dashed himself 
headlong from the gallery into the fearful area below, 
and the rest, with haggard looks and despairing voices, 
begged pitifully to be taken back to the shops and set 
to work. This was suffering applied both to the body 
and mind. 

The Assembly of ISTew York, in 1824, appointed 
Samuel H. Hopkins, George Tibbits, and Stephen 
Allen, to consider the whole subject of punishments 
and prisons in this State, and report suitable amend- 
ments to the existing system for the consideration of 
the Legislature. The committee spent the ensuing 
summer in the task, during which it sent Captain 
Lynds off to jN^ew England to look up and study the 
prison systems prevailing in that region, and ascertain 



352 HISTORY Oh" AUBUKN. 

their advantages. The committee's report wjis laid 
before the Legislature in January, 1825. It contained 
several important suggestions. Foremost was a rec- 
ommendation for the repeal of the solitary confinement 
law, based upon the injurious effects of such confine- 
ment on its subject. The committee exhibited the 
debilitating and lamentable results of the very first 
experiment in this direction, and argued that though 
the punishment was indeed terrible it failed to improve 
the morals of the criminal, and it was one of those un- 
necessary severities which disturbed the public mind. 
The expense of maintaining convicts in idleness was 
another important consideration. The committee 
therefore urged that every convict should be employed 
at hard labor, for the sake of both economy and health. 
A less generous use of the pardoning power, general 
economy in administration, and the management ofj 
convict labor so as to make it productive were also 
suggested as needful and proper. A previous legisla- 
tive committee had recommended a course directly 
opposite to the one now proposed, believing that the 
entire abandonment of labor as an engine of punish- 
ment w^as the only means of preventing crime. One 
of the present committee entertained the same view. 
But economy M^as desirable, a.nd the Legislature accord- 
ingly sent the inmates of the solitary cells back to 
work. The famous Auburn system then began to re- 
ceive a careful trial. 



THE AUBUKN PBI80N. 353 

^i As the State could not with advantage, or without 
exciting the dangerous cry of " monopoly," manufac- 
ture on its own account, it was contrived that the labor 
of the convicts in the State prisons should be leased to 
contractors, who should pay therefor a reasonable and 
stated sum. The convicts at first performed custom 
work. In 1821, the first contract in the Auburn 
prison was let to Samuel C. Dunham, who took five 
men and began the manufacture of tools, in which he 
was associated the following year with Truman J. 
McMaster. The contract was afterward held by 
McMaster & Garrow. The cooper-shop and a few 
men were let, in 1824, to Allen "Warden, the tailor-shop 
to Stephen Van''Anden, and the shoe-shop to Erastus 
and Jabez Pease. The machine-shop was leased by 
Worden & Wilkie, to supply their cotton-factory in 
the village ^with machinery and repairs, and subse- 
quently by Muir, Throop, & Garrow with the same 
view. Brown & Guilford rented the hame-shop in 
1828, and Talmadge Cherry, the cabinet-shop, in 1826.. 
The introduction and department of the contract sys- 
tem was attended with considerable embarrassment. 
The increased discipline of the prison necessary to 
prevent convicts maliciously spoiling their work was 
distasteful to the public. But the competition be- 
tween convict and free labor was still more so, and all 
who employed it lost popularity. The whole system 
of convict labor, therefore, fell into a disrepute, which 
21 



354: HISTORY OF AUBURN. 

lasted nearly twenty years. The agent of the prison 
was at times taxed to the uttermost to keep the con- 
victs busy, and some of the contracts were taken by 
merchants of Auburn, only upon his personal solicita- 
tion, and then with great reluctance. 

While the mass of the people, who looked upon the 
workings of the great prisons onlj^ from a distance, 
were, in 1825, as fearful as ever that the convicts would 
be treated in them in a relentless and despotic manner, 
an event occurred in Auburn which marks the dif- 
ferent feelings with which men equally averse to 
cruelty regard criminals, after having had daily charge 
of them for a few years. The positive refusal of the 
keepers of the prison to whip three certain disobedient 
prisoners, in the spring of 1821, will be remembered as 
an instance of their horror of severity. Four years' 
experience taught the keepers, however, a valuable les- 
son — the necessity of punishment for every infraction 
of the rules ; and in December, 1825, so blunted had 
their sensibilities become by constant contact with 
the degraded and vicious beings in the shops, that a fe- 
male prisoner was whipped in a heartless and violent 
manner, and died from the effect of the blows. This 
was Rachel Welch, whose body was conveyed to the 
Aubm-n Medical College for dissection. The commu- 
nity was greatly agitated by this affair, and examin- 
ing committees from the Legislature were appointed 
to give it a thorough investigation. The excitement 



THE AUBURN PRISON. 355 

was, however, soothed soon afterwards by the appoint- 
ment of Hon. Gershom Powers, of Auburn, to tlie 
■agency of the prison, his severe predecessor being re- 
moved to anotlier sphere of duty. 

During Mr. Powers' administration, the balance 
was nearly obtained between a necessary severity of 
discipline in the prison, and the demands of an unduly 
sympathetic public. The practice of admitting visit- 
ors to the prison, under a slight tax to pay for the 
time of the keepers who showed them the buildings, 
was encouraged. Avenues were so arranged that 
the visitors could pass around the entire establishment 
without being seen, and look down, through openings 
in a partition wall, upon the operations of the shops. 
Mr. Powers, in a letter to the Legislature, ]S"ov, 17th, 
1828, claimed that this constant exposure of the prison 
to the public eye had a salutary influence, by keeping 
up the vigilance and faithfulness of the officers, and 
by removing from the public the suspicion of mal- 
practice or cruelty, which would arise if the workings 
of the institution were concealed. 

The government of the prison was placed, in 1818, 
in the hands of a local board of five inspectors, ap- 
pointed by the Governor and Senate for two years, 
which, in turn, appointed all the other officers of the 
institution, and maintained a general supervision over 
its conduct and affairs. The officers, to the lowest, 
holding their positions independently of each other, 



S56 HISTOKY OF AUBURK. 

were responsible directly to the board, and were ex- 
empt from interference in the fearless performance of 
their duties. The members of the Board of Inspectors, 
taken from the village at large, were selected as men 
in whom the public had the highest confidence, and 
on whom they could safely rely for the prevention of 
abuses. The agent and keeper was the chief executive 
in the management of the prison. He was allowed a 
deputy and clerk. The other officers were the turn- 
keys, or keepers, and guards. The agent reported an- 
nually to the Board of Inspectors the general statistics 
of the institution. The board transmitted a similar 
report to the Legislature, at every winter session. 
This form of government was in every respect satis- 
factory to the public, and worked well. The failure 
of an attempt to change it, so as to subserve political 
ends, may be recorded as among the incidents of 1828. 
Mr. Powers, having been elected to Congress in the 
fall of 1828, was succeeded by other agents : first, Levi 
Lewis, and then John G arrow, who conducted the 
prison as they found it, with increasing satisfaction to 
the community and State as well as philanthropists, 
till 1838, when Captain Elam Lynds was again placed 
in charge. With his characteristic vigor, this officer, 
believing the discipline too lax, reversed parts of the 
system which was winning the admiration of our 
statesmen, and sent the convicts, as once before, to 
their cells to eat their food, instead of at the tables. 



THE AUBURN PEISON. 35T 

He pushed this plan further by refusing them either 
knives or forks. This was deemed to be cruelty. The 
indignation of tlie people was kindled. Public meet- 
ings were held. The Board of Inspectors were be- 
sieged with petitions and remonstrances, and Captain 
Lynds was even indicted by the grand jury for inhu- 
manity. The excitement was aggravated by the suffo- 
cation of a prisoner, who could not, under the new 
order of things, satisfy his hunger, and who, in a hasty 
attempt to steal and swallow a piece of meat, was 
strangled. The public were not to be withstood ; Cap- 
tain Lynds resigned, as well as some of the inspectors. 
Dr. Noyes Palmer took the post of agent on the 9 th 
of May, 1839, and renewed the table system of feed- 
ing, settling thereby, from that date, a vexatious ques- 
tion. 

Philanthropy now prompted an attempt to abolish 
the use of the cat-o'-nine-tails. In April, 1838, before 
Captain Lynds resigned, one Louis Yon Eck, a German, 
had been severely punished for shamming sick, as it 
was said, and he died. Perhaps the fault was only an 
error of the physician's judgment in failing to detect 
the presence of disease in the convict's system, yet Von 
Eck had been kicked and whipped and otherwise 
abused, till a fever produced his death. The instru- 
ment used for flogging was composed of a handle like 
the butt of a raw-hide whip, two feet and one inch 
l©ng, to which was attached by one corner a triangular 



358 HISTOKY OF AUBURN. 

piece of strong leather. To the t*ide of tliis triangle,, 
opposite the handle, were fastened six strands of waxed 
shoe-thread, eighteen and a half inches long, and one- 
tenth of an inch in diameter. Six blows with this in- 
strument upon the uncovered back had been fixed by 
law as the limit for any one offense. The limit wa& 
never adhered to, and the fact was so apparent in the 
case of Yon Eck, that the reformers ultimately suc- 
ceeded, in December, 1847, in securing a law forbid- 
ding the use of the whip or blows of any kind except 
in self-defense. The shower-bath plan of punishment 
was then invented^by Dr. Joseph T. Pitney, of Auburn. 
It was believed to be a humane, though severe, inflic- 
tion, and was tried as an experiment before the whip 
was laid aside. Its first application in the Auburn 
prison was made April 15th, 1842. It seemed to work 
well, being in its application less forbidding to the 
keeper, saving both his and the convict's self-respect. 
It is now the only form of corporal punishment per- 
mitted by law. 

The settlement of popular opposition to convict la- 
bor at the Auburn prison remains to be noted. This 
opposition sprang up with the origin of the institution 
amongst the mechanics of Auburn and other villages,, 
who dreaded, and did actually at the very first suffer 
a loss of their business. The cooper, shoe, tailor, and 
cabinet-shops, as early as 1825, injured a large number 
of industrious mechanics in Auburn, and obliged 



THE AUBURN PKI80N. 359 

many of them to embark in new modes of earning a 
support. The whole damage done to business fell, of 
course, in the outset, upon Auburn. But as the availa- 
ble labor in the prison gained extent, and tools, ma- 
chines, carpets, hames, and saddles, began to be pro- 
duced in quantities, complaints were made in all quar- 
ters of the State concerning this "monopoly, " as me- 
chanics were pleased to stigmatize it. In justice to the 
tradesmen, various attempts were made to protect their 
interests. The State could not afford to sustain prison- 
ers in idleness. Kor could mechanics withstand the 
competition. A resolution, therefore, passed the Legis- 
lature in 1835, directing the agent here to report on the 
probability and profit of carrying on in the prison the 
manufacture of such articles as were then furnished to 
the United States exclusively by importation. The 
manufacture of one such article — silk — was authorized 
definitely. John Garrow, then agent, did not see fit to 
commence the business, however, and the matter 
rested till 1841. In May of that year, Henry Polhe- 
mus, an untiring, devoted gentleman, and the succes- 
sor of Mr. Garrow, began the silk business as an ex- 
periment, and resolved to give it a fair and impartial 
examination. He did so. The test was continued for 
three or four years. But the pursuit proved to be un- 
remunerative and was abandoned. The number of 
men employed in the silk-shop at one time ranged aa 
high as forty. 



360 HISTORY OF AUBURN. 

By 1845, however, the necessity for any legislative 
protection had passed. The circumstances of the case 
were then materially chanujed. When the introduc- 
tion of coerced labor to Auburn threw into the mar- 
ket the available services of several hundred additional 
hands, the population of the village was little more 
than a thousand. What would not have been per- 
ceived in a large city was a crushing blow to the labor- 
ing classes here. An exodus of mechanics from Au- 
burn followed, and their grievances kindled the wide- 
spread aversion to convict labor. But during the lapse 
of twenty-five years, other tradesmen had entered the 
field, and the population of the county and State had 
expanded so largely, that the labor of the five hundred 
inmates of the penitentiary had lost its injurious influ- 
ence. The mechanic interest had then adjusted itself 
to the situation, and was no longer ranged in opposi- 
tion to the economical and reasonable system of the 
Auburn prison. 

The troubles attending the development of that sys- 
tem having been at last removed, it went into unmo- 
lested operation. To the present day agents of all 
grades of ability, of different temperaments, and of all 
political creeds, have conducted the Auburn prison 
with unvarying success, and have achieved for ita 
peculiar principles a lasting fame. Twenty States or 
more of this republic have already adopted the Au- 
burn system in their prisons, and various foreign na- 



THE A.UBUBN PlilSON. 361 

tions have erected establishments in close imitation of 
them. No system more economical has yet been 
discovered ; nor has any been .found which, when 
well carried out, better answers the great end of pun- 
ishment. A description of the plan and workings of 
the prison will not be considered improper. 

The Auburn prison occupies an area of 500,000 
square feet, on the north branch of the Owasco Outlet, 
from which it derives a valuable water-power. It faces 
State Street, and is surrounded by a wall three thou- 
sand feet long, four feet thick, and varying as it stands 
near or distant from the inner buildings from twelve 
to thirty-five feet in height. The walls are manned 
during the day by guards. 

The prison buildings are arranged in the form of a 
hollow square,'at such distances from the outer walls as 
to render unobserved communication with them highly 
improbable. They consist of a central building, with 
wings which, being L-shaped, run back at right angles to 
the rear, and unite with rows of shops extending west- 
ward some twenty-five rods. A long brick shop 
stands at the west end of the yard, parallel to the 
main building, and completes the square. In the 
center is a large, level, commodious yard. The main 
building is fifty-six feet high ; the wings are forty-five. 
The first contains the agent's apartments and office, 
the inspectors' room, the clerks' office, and the keep- 
ers' hall. The whole front is three hundred and eighty- 



362 HISTOKY OF AUBUKN. 

seven feet. The north wing, as finished in 1823, is 
three hundred and fifty feet long by forty-five wide ; 
it contains five hundsed and fifty cells and five dun- 
geons. An addition now being built upon its rear 
will enlarge the number of cells by about three hun- 
dred. The south wing is two hundred and three feet 
long by fifty- three wide, and contains four hundred 
and forty-two cells. Forming part of this wing is the 
building containing the hospital, chapel, and mess- 
room, built in 1860. From the end of the north wing 
is built the tool-shop. It is two hundred and fourteen 
feet long by thirty-seven deep, is two stories high and 
made of brick. It employs about ninety men. Ad- 
joining is the hame-shop, a structure of the same char- 
acter. Its dimensions are two hundred and twenty- 
two feet by forty. It employs about an hundred con- 
victs. The machine-shop, a brick building, two hun- 
dred and thirty feet long and sixty deep, and two 
stories high, is added to the end of the south wing. 
It furnishes work to ninety-seven men. The cabinet- 
shop stands next to this, and opposite the hame-shop ; 
is three hundred and thirty feet long by fifty wide ; gives 
employment to about sixty-eight men, and contains 
the State tailor-shop, waste-room, etc. The shoe-shop, 
filling the west end of the square, is two hundred and 
forty feet long by fifty wide, is three stories high and 
employs from two to three hundred men. These 
shops all stand about seventy-five feet distant from the 



THE AUBURN PRISON. 363 

outside walls, leaving an open space of that width 
around the greater part of the buildings, to which 
access is had from the inner yard by means of arched 
carriage-ways. In this open space, on the north and 
south sides of the prison, there stand other shops re- 
moved from the wall between thirty and forty-five feet, 
and, with but one exception, all only one story high. 
The first of these is a sash-and-blind shop. It is tw-o 
hundred and forty feet long and thirty-nine deep. 
Sixty convicts work there. Joining this and running 
westward is a long brick building, once used for the 
tool-shop, now occupied partly as a store-house and 
partly by the hame contractors. Between the south 
wing and wall stand the foundry and axle-tree shop. 
The former is attached to the machine contract ; the 
latter is two stories high and employs ninety-six men. 
The control of the prison, vested, in 1818, in a local 
board of five inspectors, having full power to appoint 
and remove, was, by the new State Constitution of 
1846, intrusted to a general board of three inspectors,, 
who were to act for the whole State. The first board 
under the new law was elected in November, 1847,. 
and qualified the January following. The inspectors 
were chosen for one, two, and three years respectively. 
The term of one member of the board, therefore, ex- 
pires annually, and a successor is annually elected. 
Every January the inspectors meet and organize, by 
electing one of their number president. They divide 



364 HISTORY OF AUBURN. 

the prisons between them every fonr montlis, in order 
that each inspector may have the special oversight of 
some one establishment, which he is required to visit 
and examine at least seven days in each montli. The 
board, as a whole, visits all the prisons four times a 
jear, and makes appointments of all their executive 
and administrative offices. The agent, chaplain, and 
physician of each prison report to the board annually 
the condition and healtli of the establishment under 
their charge. A general report is submitted by the 
inspectors to the Legislature, at the beginning of every 
winter session. 

The Constitution adopted by the State convention of 
1867, contemplates a change in this form ot govern- 
ment. It proposes to substitute a board of live com- 
missioners for the prison inspectors, one to be elected 
annually, who shall serve without salary, their actual 
■expenses, however, being paid by the State, and shall 
have power to appoint the chief officers of the several 
prisons. The choice of subordinate officers is vested 
by this instrument in the agents. 

The convict's life begins with an entry upon the 
"books of the prison of his name, age, nativity and 
occupation. The physician examines him and re- 
cords his full descriptive list. Eobed in a striped suit, 
he is then shaven and shorn, and conducted to his cell. 
His punishment follows. He is assigned a trade, and 
loses his individuality at once in the work-shops. 



THE AUBURN PRISON. 365 

The daily routine of the prison begins at dawn, by 
the gathering of the keepers and guards in the keepers* 
hall, from which at a given signal they proceed to th& 
galleries and w^alls, and prepare to open the prison^ 
The guards that have kept watch during the night in 
the white- washed halls, retire. A bell wakes the men. 
The keepers pass through the galleries, unlocking the 
cells of the company which they severally command. 
Ab they return down the galleries, they unlatch the 
doors in order ; the prisoners throw open the doors as 
the keepers pass, step out, and fall into their place in 
the long file forming in the area. After breakfast in a 
common mess-room, at tables so arranged that the men 
all look in one direction, in order that they may not ex- 
change either signs or words, they are marched to the 
shops and employed at hard labor during the day, under 
the superintendence of the contractors or their em- 
ployes. The keepers are always present. Half an hour 
is allowed at noon for dinner, ISTo conversation or in- 
tercommunication is allowed between the prisoners ex- 
cept by special permission, and then only in the pres- 
ence of the keeper. The men are thus completely iso- 
lated. Friends sometimes work for months in the 
same building without a suspicion of the fact. At the 
approach of night the convicts are marched directly to 
their cells, in which they are safely secured before the 
gathering shades of evening make it possible for any to 
secrete themselves and escape. On Sunday there is 



366 HISTORY OF AUBURN. 

religious instruction to such convicts as choose, in the 
<3hapel. Divine service is also held there. Those that 
desire may draw books from the large prison library. 

Offenders against good order are punished according 
to their extent, by giving the transgressor the ball and 
<?hain or the yoke to wear, by solitary confinement in 
the dungeon, or by the shower-batii. The shower- 
bath is applied only in the presence of the deputy- 
keeper. The subject is confined in a sitting posture 
in the bath by stocks and straps, and is showered with 
cold water from a large sprinkler with a fall of about 
two feet. It is seldom necessary to resort to this pun- 
ishment more than once. 

The splendid buildings and extensive grounds of the 
State Asylum for insane criminals are contiguous to 
the prison upon the west. 

The disadvantages attending the treatment of luna- 
tic convicts at the institution at Utica, or in the ordi- 
nary prison hospitals, long ago rendered it desii'able 
that an establishment should be erected for their exclu- 
sive use. The prison inspectors had been directed, in 
1855, to remove all the insane from the Utica Asylum 
that had been sent there from the prison, their pres- 
ence at the institution beino; regarded with srreat dis- 
favor by the friends of its other inmates, and there be- 
ing no sufficient means within command of the officers 
of the asylum to prevent their escape. The inspectors, 
in their annual report to the Legislature of 1856, re- 



THE AUBURN PRISON. 367 

quested that suitable buildings might be erected for 
the insane from all the prisons of the State, in the 
large lot belonging to the State, in rear of the Auburn 
prison. 

The request was repeated in 1857. The erection 
was then authorized, and twenty thousand dollars 
appropriated to begin the work. The inspectors, 
having obtained valuable suggestions as to the plan of 
the proposed institution from Dr. John C. Gray,'su- 
perintendent at Utica, intrusted the whole supervision 
of the work of construction to Colonel Lewis, the ef- 
ficient agent of the Auburn prison. Wm. H. Van 
Tuyl was employed as architect, and John Vander- 
heyden took the contract for the masonry. 

The foundation of the asylum was laid in June, 
1857, and the main building, west wing, and transept 
erected thereon before the close of the season. The 
entire superstructure was completed, or nearly so, in 
the most substantial manner, by the winter of 1858. 
A large part of the stone and roofing was taken from 
a large, unfinished stone building, that had been put 
up in the prison yards some years before, for a mess- 
room, chapel, hospital, and kitchen, which, being illy 
adapted to the purpose for which it was designed, had 
never been used, and was now demolished for the sake 
of putting its material into the new building. 

The asylum was opened for the reception of patients 
on the second|day of February, 1859, under the able 



368 HI8TOKY OK AUBURN. 

medical superintendence of Dr. Edward Hall, of 
Northern Yerniont, who, the absence of precedents 
notwithstanding — this institution being the first and 
only one of the kind in the United States — discharged 
the duty of beginning its system of treatment in so ju- 
dicious a manner, as to win the favorable notice and 
congratulations of the State authorities. Dr. Charles 
A. Van Anden, of Auburn, then lately the efficient 
physician of the prison, succeeded to the management 
of the asylum in 1862. He has conducted its opera- 
tions to the present day with marked ability and suc- 
cess. 

A law having been passed in the Legislature of 
1867, directing the removal of insane female convicts 
from Utica and Sing Sing to Auburn, Dr. Yan Anden 
has recommended the purchase of lands lying west of 
the State property, and provision for an enlargement 
of the asylum, which will probably soon be done. 

The institution is located on a handsome lot five 
hundred feet square, surrounded by a stone wall twelve 
feet high. It consists of a main building fortv-four 
feet wide and sixty deep, with wings one hundred feet 
long and twenty-seven deep, and transepts twenty-five 
feet wide by sixty-six deep. The front of these buildings 
is stone, while the side and rear walls are dm'ably con- 
structed of brick. Behind these stand a collection of 
smaller buildings, occupied severally as a conservatory, 
a chapel, dining-room, carpenter and blacksmith-shop, 



i 



THE AUBUllN PRISON. 369 

ice-house, boiler-house, tool-room, barns, and ironing- 
room. The apartments and office of the medical su- 
perintendent, the kitchen and patients' dining-rooms, 
are situated in the main building. The insane are 
lodged in the Avings and transepts. Their rooms, sixty- 
four in number, open upon the various halls, of which 
there are four one hundred feet in length, and eight 
twenty-five feet in length. The inmates of the asy- 
lum are carefully watched and treated. They are- 
allowed to cultivate the flower and vegetable gardens 
for recreation. From the summit of the asylum an 
excellent view may be had of both the city and the 
prison. The latter appears in all its magnitude, and 
the observer is no less impressed with its massiveness 
and extent by this general view, than when standing 
in the midst of the lofty buildings looking at them 
from below. 



22 



370 HISTORY OF AUBURN. 



CHAPTER Yl. 

THE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY. 

The Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian 
Church of Central and Western JSTew York is plea- 
santly located on elevated ground, in the northern part 
of Auburn, amongst fine residences and well- shaded 
streets. The grounds are ample and level and ten or 
twelve feet liigher than Seminary Street, opposite 
whose junction with Seminary Avenue they are situ- 
ated. Two handsome houses west of and adjacent to 
the Seminary are occupied by Drs. Hall and Hunting- 
ton, professors. The Seminary buildings are ivy-cov- 
ered, substantial limestone structures, with a total 
front of one hundred and sixty-six feet, and consist of 
a central building with wings and one transept. The 
wings are three stories high, the other parts of the in- 
stitution four. The Seminary bell hangs in a belfry 
on the top of the main buildings. A promenade en- 
circling this belfry affords an enchanting view of the 
city. The gorge of the outlet, the valley of the 
Owasco, and the outlying farms appear to great ad- 
vantage, and Fort Hill, rising majestically over the 
town, looks like an oriental hanging garden. The 



THE THEOLOGICAL SEMINAKY. 371 

four Seminary buildings are severally called, in honor 
of distinguished patrons of the institution, Theo. P. 
Case, Hon. Wm. E. Dodge, Dr. S. Willard, and Peter 
Douglass Halls. Through each, in every story, a hall 
runs from front to rear, around which are arranged 
the reading, lecture, and students' rooms. The base- 
ment contains the stewards' rooms. The first two 
stories of central hall are finished as a chapel, and 
above this are a class-room and a reading-room, fur- 
nished with all the leading theological and literary 
gazettes of the day. The western hall contains two 
class-rooms and the Seminary library, as well as nu- 
merous rooms for the young theologians. There are 
now over ten thousand volumes in the library, which 
range in size from the tiny octodecimo to the ponder- 
ous folio. Many printed on vellum are of the greatest 
antiquity and value. 

A specimen of the famous sculptures of ISTineveh is 
•exhibited in the library. A large slab of dingy mar- 
ble bears the image of a N"inevite in low relief, and a 
profusion of sentences in the mysterious arrow-writing 
of that race. One of the lecture-rooms in this hall 
contains the museum, a collection of implements, curi- 
osities, and geological rarities from pagan lands, where 
graduates of the seminary have gone to preach the 
Gospel. The work-shop and gymnasium stand in 
rear of the western part of the seminary. A fine view 
of the whole of these buildings and the broad grounds 



372 HISTORY OF AUliDRN. 

is presented in one of the landscapes accompanying 
this work. The seminary is, by its elevated and de- 
tached position, the most conspicnous pnblic building 
in Auburn. 

The annals of this institution possess general inter- 
est to the inhabitants of our city. Its influence on the 
place, the county, even the State itself, in molding 
the character and religious faith of the people, has 
been incalculable. Its growth was slo\^, but from it& 
foundation it has diffused the most substantial bless- 
ings in this community, by inspiring a love of order, 
by teaching and assisting the poor, by missionary 
work in the prison and surrounding towns, and by 
stimulating the formation of societies in the city, to 
whose self-sacrificing labors the success of nearly all of 
our charitable and missionary establishments may be 
safely ascribed. 

Notwithstanding the pressing religious wants of the 
American people, there was, when the present century 
opened, but one school in the United States where 
young men might regularly fit themselves for the 
Gospel ministry. This school was established by the 
Kev. John Mason, D.D., of New York city, who had 
then recently returned from Europe with a large col- 
lection of theological works suited to his purpose, and 
was modestly making his first experiment in the me- 
tropolis. The student of theology, previous to this 
time, had been compelled to seek the learning and 



THE THEOLOGICAL SEMINAKY. 373 

culture needed in liis calling either in private, at the 
feet of some favorite and eminent divine, or in the 
schools of the Old World. He was now enabled to 
prepare himself for the ministry in a better manner ; 
and Dr. Mason was soon surrounded by a goodly 
number of young men, seeking his m^asterly instruc- 
tions. 

The Theological Seminary at Andover, Mass.— the 
first in the United States — was founded in 1808. The 
Princeton Seminary, and Union Theo. Seminary 
in Virginia, were erected four years later, and the 
General Theo. Seminary of the Prot. Episcopal Church 
was built at Kew York in 181Y. Yet such was the 
enormous expansion of the population of the country 
during this period, that it was impossible to provide 
the new settlements, or even the old, with religious 
teachers as fast as the times demanded. A vast army 
of emigrants was daily landing on the shores and 
pouring across the States toward the far west, where 
villages and new States were being called into exist- 
ence as if by magic ; and the cry came out of the 
wilderness, " Send us the word of God." Few divines, 
however, came out into the new country except as mis- 
sionaries, and the labors of these extended over such 
large districts, and their stay was generally so short, that 
there was now great danger that the pulpits of many of 
the new settlements would be filled by an ignorant and 
uneducated ministry, to meet the growing demand. 



374 HISTORY OF AUBURN. 

Many a pulpit already established was vacant, and 
there were none to fill them. The graduates of the 
Seminaries were generally detained in the Eastern 
States. The Presbyterian Cliurch viewed the state of 
things in Western New York with some anxiety. 
Here was a wide field for religious work, but the labor- 
ers therein were few. The Lord of the harvest, 
however, provided a way at this critical time to raise 
up laborers and gather the harvest. 

Colonel Samuel Bellamy, of Skaneateles, and Colonel 
John Lincklaen, of Cazenovia, both prominent and 
active member^ of the Presbyterian Church, and vari- 
ous others of the same persuasion, were led at different 
times to converse on the great dearth of ministers in 
this part of iSTew York, and finally, in 1817, to suggest 
the erection at some convenient point of a new semin- 
ary of sufficient size to include a suitable academical 
course for preparation. The measure was first publicly 
advocated by these gentlemen at an annual meeting 
of the Synod of Geneva, held at Eochester in February, 
1818. Its necessity and propriety w^ere ably sustained. 
The proposition, however, took the synod by surprise, 
and its members were not at first fully prepared to 
give it their support. Indeed, although it was gener- 
ally conceded that the times demanded the seminary, 
considerable opposition was manifested to the project. 
Many prominent gentlemen were apprehensive that 
the Presbyterians were not strong enough to endow 



THE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY. 375 

and support the proposed institiition. Others feared 
that the General Assembly would regard it as hostile 
to the interests of the Princeton Seminary, over which 
that body maintained supervision. After debating the 
matter for two days, it was deemed a judicious course 
to temper the resolution in favor of the proposed sem- 
inary with the provision that it be lirst referred to the 
General Assembly for advice. A committee composed 
of two ministers and one layman from each Presbytery 
of the synod was appointed to carry the resolution into 
effect. The committee was also instructed to sound 
the people on the subject of the seminary, and, if it 
thought Ibest, to acquire funds and receive proposals 
for the location and erection of the buildings. 

The General Assembly convened in May, 1818. 
Having discussed the resolution of the Geneva Synod, 
it paid that body a high compliment by referring back 
the whole proposition for the " establishment of the 
academical and theological seminary, believing that 
said synod are the best judges of what may be their 
duty in this important matter." Thus assured of the 
favor of the General Assembly, the committees of the 
synod met at Canandaigua in June, and, viewing the 
enterprise in the new light thrown upon it by a can- 
vass of the district, gave it their sober consideration. 
It was resolved that the seminary should be established 
without delay. The notion of the academic course 
was dropped, as calculated to embarrass rather than 



37(> UISTOKi' OF AUBL'KN. 

assist, but decisive lueasures were undertaken to for- 
ward the main object. The chairman of the commit- 
tee requested the moderator to convoke a special meet- 
ing of the synod, which he had been authorized to do, 
and subscription papers were immediately started. 

The synod assembled at Auburn, August 15th, 
1818. The attendance of delegates M-as unusually 
large, there being present fifty-eight ministers and 
forty-five elders regularly accredited to the various 
Presbyteries. Several distinguished divines from 
other districts met with the convention ; anions them 
were Rev. Henry Davis, D.D., president of Hamilton 
College ; Rev. Thomas McCauley, LL.D., of Albany ; 
Rev. Oliver Eastman, of the Union Asso., Mass. ; 
Rev. David D. Field, of the Asso. of Middlesex, Conn. ; 
and Rev. Daniel D. Hopkins, of Hudson, ISI. Y. The 
synod had but one object in view ; no time was lost 
therefore. After a brief discussion it was resolved al- 
most unanimously by the synod, " immediately to es- 
tablish a theological sejuinary within its bounds." A 
committee of ten reported a plan for carrying the reso- 
lution into eftect. Assurances of great assistance from 
Cayuga County having been received, the seminary 
was located in the village of Auburn, upon the ex])ress 
stipulation that the subscriptions in the count}'' should 
be no less than $35,000, and that ten acres should be 
donated for a site. Before this action should be con- 
sidered final, the subscriptions were to be approved by 



THE THEOLOGICAL SEMIJN'AKY. 



377 



the synod. It was considered prudent to provide that 
the seminary should not begin operations till the sum 
of $50,000 had either been raised or actually promised. 
Colonel John Lincklaen, of Cazenovia, Horace Hills, 
of Auburn, and Thomas Mumford, of Cayuga, were 
constituted trustees, with power to hold the property 
of the seminary, till provision for the purpose was 
made by law. Committees were appointed to canvass 
the Presbyteries of Cayuga, Onondaga, Geneva, On- 
tario, Bath, and Niagara, as well as the State at large 
and other States. 

The sum needed to locate the seminary in this city 
was promptly subscribed. The amount raised here 
and in the immediate vicinity toward that sum was 
over sixteen thousand dollars, as shown by the follow- 
ing list : 



Thomas Mumford, $2,000 

N. Garrow & K. S. Beach, 2,000 

David Hyde & John H. Beach, . 2,000 

Eev. D. C. Lansing, 1,000 

Horace Hills, 600 

Robert & John Patty, 600 

Henry Ammerman, 500 

Walter Wood, 500 

Eleazer Hills, 500 

Hiram Lodge, 500 

Ezekiel Williams, 500 

Joseph Colt, 300 

William Brown, 225 

Erastus Pease, 200 

Asa Hunger, 300 



John & Salmon G. G rover, $200 

Ira Hopkins 200 

Stephen Van Anden, 200 

Sam. B. Hickox, 150 

Ebenezer Hoskins, 100 

G. & P. Holly, 100 

T. & E. D. Cherry, 100 

Lawrence White, 100 

E.D. Shultis 100 

Micajah Benedict, 100 

Joseph Rhodes, 100 

O. Reynolds, lOO 

Ebenezer Gould, 100 

Smaller subscriptions, 8,339 



At a convention of the svnod at Geneva in Feb- 



378 HISTORY OF AUBURN. 

ruary, 1819, it was accordingly resolved, upon the rec- 
ommendation of a committee appointed to examine 
the Cayuga County subscriptions, that the seminary 
be definitely located at Auburn. A plan for the 
seminary buildings, and a draught of an act of incor- 
poration were submitted and approved. Rev. D. C. 
Lansing, Rev. Levi Parsons, Rev. Benjamin B. Stock- 
ton, Thomas Mumford, "William Brown, David Hyde, 
and John Lincklaen were then elected a prudential 
committee, with authority to secure the passages of 
the act of incorporation, and begin the w^ork of con- 
struction. They also received power to control all the 
funds in the treasury, bny necessary lands, appoint and 
pay subscription agents, and notify the moderator 
whenever they desired to convoke the synod. 

The heirs of Colonel Hardenburgh having contrib- 
uted six acres of land, and Glen Cuyler two more ad- 
joining, for a site, ground was broken thereon on the 
30th of ^NTovember, 1819. The first plow that en- 
tered the soil on the line traced out for the foundation 
was guidjed by the hand of Dr. Lansing. A prayer 
was offered on this occasion by the Rev. William 
Johnson, now of Owasco, and Dr. Lansing delivered 
an earnest and impressive address. The citizens 
meanwhile had gathered with teams and tools to spend 
a day in gratuitous w^ork. The ceremonies being con- 
cluded, labor began, and was continued till the rigor- 
ous weather in December caused a temporary suspen- 



THE THEOLOGICAL SEMINAET. 379- 

sion. Work was renewed in the spring by means of 
subscriptions of money, labor, and materials, prompt 
payment of wliicb was provided for by the energetic- 
Captain Bradley Tuttle, who had been appointed agent 
for collecting them. 

The charter of the seminary, passed April 14th, 
1820, nominated the first Board of Trustees, as follows : 
Colonel John Lincklaen, Hon, Glen Cuyler, Rev.. 
Henry Davis, D. D., David Hyde, Thaddens Edwards, 
Henry Mcj^eil, Eev. Levi Parsons, Rev. Benjamin B. 
Stockton, Rev. Dirck C. Lansing, D. D., Rev. William 
Wisner, D. D., Rev. Henry Axtel, D. D., Rev. 
Ebenezer Fitch, D. D., Rev. David Higgins, Rev. 
Seth Smith, and William Brown, Esq. The trustees 
were directed to assemble at Auburn for organization 
on the second Wednesday of Jnly, 1820, and divide 
themselves into classes, in such manner that the terms 
of office of five members should expire annually on 
the first Wednesday of September. The charter pro- 
vided that vacancies should be filled by election, by a 
Board of Commissioners to be composed of two cler- 
gymen and one layman from each of the Presbyteries 
of Cayuga,=]S[iagara, Genesee, Rochester, Bath, Geneva, 
Onondaga, Oneida, Ontario, and St. Lawrence. The 
commissioners were invested with the general superin- 
tendence and control of the seminary, the power to 
appoint professors, tutors and other ofiicers of the in- 
stitution, to fix their salaries, and to direct the disburse- 



3Si) lllSTOliY OK AUBLJiN, 

inent of all funds. The ininiediate care of the semi- 
nary, and the management of its property was com- 
mitted to the trustees, whose action, however, was to 
■be alwaj's subject to the approval of the commis- 
sioners. In view of the grant of powers by the charter, 
the State made the usual reservation, that no student 
of any Christian denomination should be debarred 
the privileges of the Seminary on account of his religi- 
ous belief. The control of the Seminary being by 
the act of incorporation extended to many Presbyteries 
outside of the Synod of Geneva, its influence was ju- 
diciously and happily extended. 

The corner-stone of the seminary was laid with 
great formality on the afternoon of Thursday, May 
11th, 1820. Immediately after dinner, a large num- 
ber of the inhabitants of the town proceeded to the 
grounds to assist in making necessary preparations for 
■the occasion, nothing daunted by the inauspicious 
weather, or even by a slight rain which was slowly 
dropping from the clouds. All things were in readi- 
ness b}^ five o'clock. At that hour, the venerable 
Samuel Bellamy, who had been tendered the honor of 
laying the stone, arrived on the ground in his carriage. 
The citizens respectfully formed ranks to receive him. 
Being conducted to the spot where the stone was to 
be laid, by David Hyde and William Brown, he laid 
his hand on the massive block, and deposited it in its 
place. He then addressed the citizens briefly, in a 



THE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY. 381 

voice tremulous witli age, and placed in a cavity m 
the corner-stone a silver plate inscribed as follows : 

This medal deposited by Colonel Samuel Bellamy, of Skaneateles.. 
The name of Colonel John Lincklaen, of Cazenoria, is in- 
scribed in honor of being one of the first 
projectors and advocates of 
this institution. 
" Beloved, I lay in Zion a Chief Corner-Stone, elect, precious."^ 
" Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, 
to-day, and forever." 

The long, thick plate of lead laid over this to pro- 
tect it, was inscribed, 

" Hoc aediflciura conditum, perdocere adolescentes iu Rerum 

Divinarum scientiam, Anno Domini 

MDCCCXX." 

An address by the Kev. B. B. Stockton, and bene- 
diction by Dr. Lansing concluded the exercises. 

The Seminary buildings were vigorously advanced 
during 1820 and '21. The grounds were also improved 
and enlarged by purchase of several acres, parts of 
which were afterward sold, leaving, as at present, about 
twelve acres in possession of the trustees. 

The board of commissioners, viz : Rev, Miles P. 
Squiers and David M. Smith, of the Niagara Pres- 
bytery ; Rev. Calvin Colton, of Genesee ; Rev. Alan- 
son Darwin, Rev. Chauncey Cook and Dr. Azel Ens- 
worth, of Rochester ; Rev. Ezekiel J. Chapman and 
Rev. Julius Steele, of Ontario ; Rev. Evan Johns, 
Rev. Stephen Porter and Thomas Mumford, of Ge- 



'AS"! HISTOKY OK AUBUKN. 

iieva; Rev. Caleb Alexander and Daniel C. Hopkins, 
of Onondaga; Rev. Samuel Parker and Col. Sam. 
Bellamy, of Cayuga ; Rev. James II. Ilotchkin and 
Robert Porter, of Bath ; Rev. Israel Brainard and 
Kev. Jolm Frost, of Oneida ; and the trustees before 
named, severally convened at Lynch's tavern — after 
ward the Xational — in Auburn, July 12th, 1820. 

The trustees organized with Rev. Dr. Davis, presi- 
dent ; Dr. Lansing, vice-president ; William Brown, 
secretary ; and David Hyde, treasurer. Both bodies 
transacted a large amount of business. Fifteen thou- 
sand dollars were placed at the command of the trus- 
tees, to complete the seminary on the plan proposed by 
Dr. Lansing, Bev. B. B. Stockton, David Hyde, "Wm. 
Brown, and Thaddeus Edwards, the prudential com- 
mittee ; and, in the board of commissioners, a choice 
was made of the 'Rev. James Richards, D. D., of 
Newark, N. J., for the professorship of theology. 

Dr. Richards having declined the trust tendered 
him by the commissioners, they assembled to consider 
the propriety of appointing the remaining portion of 
the faculty. Holding the chair of theology in abey- 
ance, they elected Rev. Henry Mills, D. D., of Wood- 
bridge, ]^. J., professor of Biblical criticism and Orien- 
tal languages ; Rev. Matthew La Rue Perrine, D. D., 
of IST. Y., professor of ecclesiastical history and church 
polity ; and Rev. Dirck C. Lansing, D. D., of Auburn, 
professor of sacred rhetoric. Dr. Perrine, being at the 



THE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY. 383 

time in Auburn, accepted the offer made liini, and, 
upon the request of the commissioners, agreed to as- 
sume the duties of the professor of didactic theology, 
until that position was regularly filled. Drs. Mills 
and Lansing also accepted, the latter with the gener- 
ous declaration that his services should be rendered 
gratuitously. 

Public announcement was therefore made that the 
seminary was ready for a commencement. The second 
Wednesday of the following October was designated 
as the day when its doors would be opened for the ad- 
mission of students. 

Meanwhile energy was exerted to finish and furnish 
at least one building by the date assigned. When the 
regular subscriptions were nearly called in or exhausted, 
the working committees were compelled to resort to 
various expedients to acquire funds for carrying on the 
work. Churches and congregations were led by them 
to contribute the means to finish particular parts of 
the seminary buildings. Ko less than fifteen associ- 
ations were formed in the State to cultivate lands for 
the benefit of the institution, and numerous farmers 
were induced to set aside their crops for the same 
purpose. 

The eastern counties of the State sent on large dona- 
tions also, in money. Books came from all directions, 
even from Pennsylvania and ISTew Jersey. Thus, by 
noble and incessant endeavor, the object was attained. 



384 IIISTOKY OF AL'UUKN. 

The main building and west wing of the seminary 
were ready to be occupied by tlie lirst of Octoljer. 

On Tuesday, the 9th, the Board of Connnission- 
ers met at Auburn for the transaction of current busi- 
ness. On the following day, after interesting, though 
protracted exercises, Professors Mills, Perrine, and Lan- 
sing were solemnly inducted into office, in the presence 
of a large and attentive audience. Rev. Caleb Alexan- 
der first delivered a pleasant discourse, setting forth the 
whole history and progress of the seminary, and 
its prospects. The object of the meeting was then 
formally stated by Eev. James H. Hotchkin, presi- 
dent of the Board of Commissioners, who afterward 
read, in the hearing of all present, the following for- 
mula : 

" In presence of the omniscient and heart-search- 
ing God, I do solemnly affirm and declare that I be- 
lieve the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments 
to be the word of God, and the only infallible rule of 
faith and practice ; that I do receive and adopt the 
Confession of Faith and the Catechisms of the Presby- 
terian Church in the United States of America, as con- 
taining the system of doctrines taught in the Holy 
Scriptures ; that I do approve of the government and 
discipline of the Presbyterian Clim'ch, as prescribed in 
the Forms of Government and Discipline of the Pres- 
byterian Chnrch in these United States ; and I do sol- 
emnly promise to maintain with zeal and fidelity the 



THE THEOLOGICAL SEMINAEY. 385 

truths of the Gospel, and to be faithful and diligent 
in all such duties as may devolve on me as a professor 
in this seminary, according to the best of my knowl- 
edge and abilities.'' 

To this formula the professors severally gave a dis- 
tinct assent, and their signatures. Having then re- 
ceived a charge from the Rev. Ebenezer Fitch, D.D., 
they delivered their inaugural addresses, which con- 
cluded the ceremony. 

The seminary opened in October, 1820, with eleven 
students. The Presbyterian Church, generally, hailed 
this event as the kindling of a great beacon-fire in a 
wilderness of spiritual gloom, devoutly believing that 
the seminary would prove a source of great spiritual 
safety and blessing to the vast and neglected frontier 
population of our country ; and would, moreover, illu- 
minate with the grand doctrines of Christianity all 
who dwelt within reach of its beams. Ordinances 
were adopted, soon after commencement, by the com- 
missioners, providing, among other things, that every 
professor in the institution must be " an ordained 
minister of the Presbyterian or Congregational 
Church, and must sustain the character of a learned, 
judicious, and orthodox divine and a devout Chris- 
tian," and who, before he could be eligible to perform 
the duties of his office, must agree to and sign the for- 
mula once before cited. Of students, no more was 
required than evidence of good morals, good natural 
23 



386 HISTORY OF AUBUKN. 

talents, and of having passed through a regular course 
of academical study. 

The seminary course requires a residence of three 
years. The studies are now as follows : Junior Year^ 
— Hebrew Language ; Canon of the Scriptures ; Bibli- 
cal criticism and interpretation ; Lectures on the Physi- 
cal Geography of Palestine — on Jewish Antiquities 
— on Historical Geography and Sacred Chronology ; 
Church History begun ; Natural Theology ; Mental 
Philosophy. Middle Year. — Evidences of Christian- 
ity ; Inspiration of the Scriptures ; Christian Theology ; 
Explanation and proof of the Assembly's shorter Cate- 
chism and the Westminster Confession ; Hebrew and 
Greek Exegesis ; Composition of Sermons ; Criticism 
of plans ; Church History. Senior Year. — Lectures 
on Preaching ; Criticism of Plans and Sermons ; Pas- 
toral Theology ; Church Polity and History ; Hebrew 
and Gi-eek Exegesis; Composition and Declamation 
through the whole course. 

In 1823, an empty treasury nearly brought the 
affairs of the seminary to a stand. 'Eo advance could 
be made with the work of building, nor could the insti- 
tution long maintain credit or standing, without addi- 
tional funds. At this crisis. Dr. Lansing took the stage 
to 'Eqw York, and made an earnest appeal, in person, 
to several wealthy men there, for help. The response 
was far more liberal than he had dared to anticipate. 

Arthur Tappan promised Dr. Lansing to endow the 



THE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY. 3ST 

professorsliip of tlieologj with the sum of fifteen 
thousand dollars, upon the understanding that Dr. 
Richards would be re-elected to that position. This 
munificent grant, which established the permanence 
of the Seminary at Auburn, was made in writing, 
August 15th 1833, in the following words : 

"" The founder of the Professorship of Christian The- 
ology in the Theo. Seminary at Auburn, in the State of 
ISTew York, being induced to endow this Professorship 
from a sense of the importance not only of a pious but 
of a well-educated ministry, for the edification of the 
church, the spread of the Gospel, and the conversion 
and salvation of man ; from a conviction of the expe- 
diency and utility of institutions devoted to the educa- 
tion of pious young men for the Gospel ministry ; and 
from the belief that this Seminary, in its plan and lo- 
cation, is well calculated to answer the beneficial pur- 
poses of such an institution, and that its prospects of 
success depend upon the immediate establishment of this 
professorship upon the basis of a permanent fund ; and 
humbly aiming in this transaction to promote in the 
i^hnrch the glory of God ; he does hereby give, assign, 
and set over unto the Trustees of the Theological Sem- 
inary in Auburn, in the State of New York, and to their 
successors in ofiice, the sum of fifteen thousand dollars 
in trust, as a capital fund, for the purpose of maintain- 
ing a Professorsliip of Christian Theology in said Sem- 
inary, forever. '^' * -" ISToProfessor shall ever be placed 



388 HISTORY OF AUIJUKW. 

or suffered to continue on this Foundation, who does- 
not hold the system of Faith -which the ordinances of 
the Seminary at present require every Professor to hold ; 
and if any time hereafter, any Professor on this Found- 
ation shall in any important article differ from the 
said system of Faith, and especially if such Professor 
shall not full}'^ believe and teach the true and proper 
divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ, the personality ot 
the Holy Spirit, the total depravity of man in his nat- 
ural state, and the eternal punishment of the wicked, 
then the Founder of this Professorship reserves to 
himself" the right to retain the fund, etc. 

The commissioners accepted this grant, with the 
conditions, on the 10th of September. The same day, 
they unanimously invited Dr. Pichards to accept the 
newly-endowed chair. The invitation was accepted 
and the doctor was inducted to office October 29th. 

The struggling institution was further relieved by 
large sums of money raised by the Pev. Samuel H. 
Cox, D.D., who visited nearly every prominent city 
and town of the State for the purpose. 

The generous labors of its friends brought the semi- 
nary to a gratifying state of prosperity. The number 
of students increased rapidly, and soon every room was 
filled, and an enlargement was demanded. On the 
13tli of January, 1824, a convention of thirty delegates 
from the Presbyterian churches of Western New York 
assembled in the library room of the seminary to pro- 



THE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY. ' 389 

vide ±01" obtaining; the means. It beino- considered 
necessary to raise twenty tlionsand dollars for tlie 
enlargement, for building professors' houses, and other 
kindred objects, agents were appointed to solicit con- 
tributions in every county in this part of the State. 
Their exertions were bounteously rewarded, and funds 
were obtained to build the east wing of the institution, 
■which was finished in 1826. The western transept 
was erected in 1829, by Isaac and Isaac A. Selover. 

Dr. Lansing retired from the professorship of sacred 
rhetoric in August, 1826, his resignation being laid 
l)efore the commissioners, and reluctantly accepted, on 
the 16th. The board paid Dr. Lansing the following 
testimony of their appreciation of the value of his la- 
"bors for the seminary : " Eesolved, that this board, 
in behalf of this Christian community, and in its own 
behalf, does, in the exercise of Christian ajffection and 
respectful gratitude, record the name of D. 0. Lansing 
among the founders of this seminar}'-, and as one ot 
the prime and most efficient agents in measures which 
have led to its establishment, and its present pleas- 
ing and flourishing condition ; and they devoutly 
implore for him, on his retirement, the blessinp; of 
Heaven, as well as the sublime satisfaction of witness- 
ing the rising reputation and the extraordinary influ- 
ence of an institution, which has hitherto taken so 
deep hold upon his heart, and which has been so emi- 
nently blessed by his efforts.'* 



390 IlISiOKY OI-' AL"DUK>i. 

For nine years, Ills chair remained vacant ; but it 
was endowed in 1829, by Col. Samuel Bellamy, with 
property amounting to seven thousand two liundred 
dollars ; and, in 1832, by Thaddeus Edwards, Avith four 
thousand dollars, the two sums being united for the 
support of the Bellamy and Edwards Professorship for 
Sacred Rhetoric and Pastoral Theology, Dr. Samuel 
II. Cox, Pastor of the Spring Street Presbyterian 
Church in ISTew York, assumed the duties of this pro- 
fessorship on the 16th of June, 1835. 

The history of the seminary from this date is little- 
more than a record of changes among the eminent di- 
vines who have at times presided over its various de- 
partments. These will be briefly noted. 

The institution having been deprived, in February, 
1836, by death, of the venerable and valued Dr. 
Perrine, the Rev. Luther Ilalsey, .1). D., then pro 
lessor of eclesiastical history in the Western Theo- 
logical Seminary at Alleghanytown, was elected to 
succeed him, and was installed in the fall of 183T. 

Dr. Cox soon afterward found himself compelled to 
resign by reason of his pecuniary embarrassments,, 
though he did so with great reluctance. His loss was. 
keenly felt by the seminary, for he had been one of 
its most untiring and efficient officers. Rev. Baxter 
Pickinson, D. D., of Lane Theological Seminary, at 
Cincinnati, Ohio, supplied his place in August, 1840.. 

Dr. Richards departed this life on the 2d of Au- 



THE THEOLOGICAL SEMIJSTAKY. 391 

gust, 1843. Dr. Halsey soon after tins event tendered 
his resignation to the commissioners. The hoard 
could not, in justice to the seminary, accept it at once, 
hut did so in the spring of 1844. Two professors — 
Drs. Dickinson and Mills — only were left. A division 
of sentiment in the country on the slavery question, in 
which the students and managers of the seminary 
shared, caused, at this critical period, an alarming 
falling oif in the classes. 

S^^he Eev. Laurens P. Hickok, D. D., was tendered 
the Richards professorship of Christian theology in 
1844. Accepting, he was inducted with the usual 
solemnities, in January, 1845. 

Dr. Dickinson retired from the chair of sacred rhe- 
toric in 184Y, having occupied it with marked ability 
for seven years. He was succeeded by Kev. John 
Fero Smith, D. D. 

In the month of June, 1847, the Eev. Samuel M. 
Hopkins, D. D., assumed the duties of teacher of 
ecclesiastical history, with the view of promotion to 
the professorship of that department, should the way 
be prepared. 

The Eev. W. G. T. Shedd, as professor of sacred 
rhetoric, and Rev. Clement Long, D. D., as professor of 
Christian theology, subsequently labored here for a 
short time. 

In 1854, the prospects and condition of the semi- 
nary appeared so discouraging that every member of 



392 HISTOKY OF AUBUKN. 

the fciculty except Dr. Hopkins resigned. This dis- 
astrous circiiinstance closed the doors of the semi- 
nary. 

In 1855, operations were resumed. A new faculty 
was elected and installed, and the halls of the institu- 
tion were again opened for the admission of students. 

The new professors were Eev. Edwin Hall, D. D,, 
professor of Christian theology ; Kev. Jonathon B. 
Condit, D. D., professor of sacred rhetoric and pasto- 
ral theology ; Eev. Samuel M. Hopkins, D. D., profes- 
sor of ecclesiastical history and church polity ; and 
Hev. E. A. Huntington, T). D., professor of Biblical 
criticism. The same organization exists at the present 
day, with the single exception that an adjunct profes- 
sor of Hebrew, E-ev. J. E. Pierce, A. M., is now at- 
tached to the department last named, the chair having 
been created and endowed through the instrumentality 
of Professor Huntington. 

The career of the seminary since the resumption has 
been one of steady growth and prosperity. Several 
energetic and untiring spirits, eminent among whom 
was the late Frederick Starr, Jr., created a fresh and 
deep interest in its welfare, and induced wealthy 
men to place such sums at the disposal of the trustees, 
as to fully endow every professorship, and make the 
institution independent and self-sustaining. The per- 
sonal property of the seminar}^ now amounts to about 
$200,000, five-eighths of which consists of endow- 



THE THEOLOGICAL SEMmAEY. 393 

meiits of professorships ; the revenue of the remainder 
is appropriated to the assistance of stndents and con- 
tingent expenses. 

The nnmber of students now enjoying the privileges 
of the institution is between fifty and sixty. This is 
the average attendance. 

The Theological Seminary of Central and Western 
'New York has now been in existence for the period 
of forty-eight years. It was in the outset the bold 
conception of a few stirring men, who were alive to 
the wants of their times, and the needs of the country. 
How they succeeded in carrying forward their design 
till crowned with success will, humanly speaking, al- 
ways be a wonder. Success could never have been 
possible, considering the condition of Western New 
York in 1820, had that been other than a happy, 
busy, money-making period, or had the enterprise 
been in the hands of any less zealous men, or had its 
necessity been any less apparent. ISTevertheless, its 
final erection and endowment were by no means the 
brilliant achievements of a day or the monuments of 
the liberality of a few distinguished patrons. On the 
contrary, this seminary is the fruit of years of toil, 
and of the contributions of hundreds of earnest workers 
and co-operators. It is the result of the accumulation 
of small things, and finds therein its chief strength. 

This was the first Synodical Seminary in the United 
States. Projected for tlie simple purpose of furnish- 



8y-i lllSTOEY OF AUBUEN. 

ing tlie new settlements of our country with educated 
religions teachers, it has answered the irreat end of its 
existence, and the desire of its founders ; exerting a 
powerful influence in organizing society, and infusing 
into the rising communities of what was then the 
frontier a strong; relisrious sentiment. Over nine hmi- 
dred and fifteen young men have received its instruc- 
tions. Twenty-six of these have already received the 
degree of D. L). The Auburn students have always 
turned toward the new settlements, following them 
year by year as they have stretched across the conti- 
nent toward, over, and beyond, the country of the buf- 
falo. In late years large numbers of them have gone 
into foreign lands as missionaries, to China and India 
particularly ; so that to-day there is scarce a section 
of our republic, or a clime inhabited by civilized man, 
in which a graduate of the Auburn Seminary is not 
preaching the blessed Gospel of Christ. 



THE RECORD OF THE WAR. 395- 



CHAPTER VII. 

THE RECORD OF THE WAR IN AUBURN 
1860-1865. 

The Southern States had for many years threatened 
secession from the Federal Union, if, at any time, the 
slave-power should lose its ascendency in the national 
government. The presidential election of 1860 afford- 
ed these States an opportunity of showing their hon- 
esty, by placing in power their political opponents, 
l^othing then apparently prevented the promised out- 
break, but the want of the assurance that the military 
power of the nation w^ould not be wielded against it. 
That assufance was given, when Congress assembled 
in December, by the President, in his annual message. 

The politicians of the South prepared openly to^ 
carry out their long-cherished scheme of disunion. So 
often, however, had the South threatened disunion, 
without ever, in fact, attempting it, that, like the- 
shepherd in the fable, who falsely reported the ap- 
proach of wolves for his own amusement, it had lost 
much of its former reputation for veracity. The peo- 
ple of the north, at large, did not believe the South to 
be in earnest. Some, notwithstanding, did believe 



396 IIISTOKY OF AU15UUN. 

that secession Avas at last actually' intended, and that a 
fearfnl contest was at our very doors. Prominent citi- 
zens of Aubnrn, after becoming acquainted witli the 
•contents of the President's message, partook of this 
fear. 

Perceiving the unreadiness of the jSTorth to furnish 
the government with proper military aid in the en- 
forcement of the laws of the country in the South, 
should it be suddenly needed, and believing that the 
threats of secession were " an avowal of contemplated 
treason, which it was the imperative duty of an indig- 
nant people sternly to rebuke, and for ever silence,*' 
some Auburnians made the ]'»roposition to arm the 
State, as Massachusetts was doing, and arouse the peo- 
ple. The matter was regarded with favor by well- 
known military men here, and. by numerous members 
of the "Wide- Awake clubs of the city, the latter of 
whom vobmteered to throw down the torch and take 
up the musket, if it was necessary to save the Union. 

These matters were the subjects of open discussion. 
They resulted in an address to the supervisors of this 
county, then in session at the court-house, on the after- 
noon of Saturday, December Sth, by a patriotic resi- 
dent of the city, who invited the board to unite in a 
petition to the Governor to prepare the State forces 
for an emergenc}'. The supervisors, willing to consider 
the matter, appointed a committee, consisting of John 
S. Clark, William Kevill, William G. Wayne, Sanford 



THE KECOKD OF THE WAB. 397 

Gifibrd, N. C. Sinions, and S. C. Lyon, to report meas- 
ures proper to preserve the Union of the States, for the 
action of the board. 

The Aulurn Daily f/w-^on- of the same day contains 
the following item : 

" Notes of Pkepakation.— It looks now as if the 
Union office is to become a recruiting station in good 
earnest. Some fifteen or twenty offers to enlist were 
made yesterday by the Wide- Awakes, accompanied by 
the proposition to raise one or more regiments to put 
down secession, and that their services be tendered to 
the Governor at once." 

The public mind, however, was reposing in wonted 
security. ISTeither the people of Auburn nor the lead- 
ing journals of the State, could discern the necessity 
for the proposed action. Many became exceedingly 
alarmed lest the supervisors should immediately de- 
clare war, and the movement was denounced as pre- 
mature and insane. The supervisors' committee re- 
ported that it could not find sufficient cause for action. 
But the honor remains to Auburn of being the fore- 
most of the cities of this patriotic State, to announce 
the impending danger of the country, and call for the 
raising of troops. 

The certainty of war was a fact so well understood 
by ISTew-Year's-day of 1861, that several of the N^ortli- 
ern States passed laws to discipline and equip their 
militia. The citizens of New York anxiously urged 



398 HISTORY OF AUBUKN, 

the speedy enlistment of volunteer forces, that this 
State also might be in readiness for a sudden call. 
Many of them tendered their services to the Executive 
of the State. The first of these offers from Auburn 
was made by Terence J. Kennedy, Esq., a captain of 
artillery in the militia of nearly twenty years exj)eri- 
ence, whose letter to the Governor bears date the 11th 
of January. Solomon Giles, of Weed sport, and others, 
offered their services soon after. 

The door was closed against the hope that the evils 
of the nation might be cured by peaceful remedies, by 
the secession of seven of the Southern States, and the 
organization of a provisional rebel government. The 
apathy of our Legislatures and public men in the 
spring of 1861, was, to an active and enthusiastic mind, 
appalling. There were many in this county who, 
longed to act as the crisis appeared to demand. Fore- 
most among these was Captain T. J. Kennedy, Avho, 
imbued with some of that Jacksonian spirit that dares 
to take responsibility, determined to break ground in 
Auburn in the matter of volunteering. After consul- 
tation with friends, this gentleman drew up, in the ab- 
sence of printed blanks, an enlistment paper, in the fol- 
lowing words : " We, the undersigned, hereby pledge 
our words of honor to associate ourselves together for 
the purpose of forming a light artillery company, to 
serve for three months, or as long as tlie war shall 
last ; " and having signed it himself, began to recruit 



THE KBCOKD OF THE WAK. 399 

on the 2d day of April, from his business ofhce on 
State Street. John Poison signed the paper next. 
These, therefore, were the first two men who enlisted in 
Cayuga County to put down the rebellion. 

Captain Kennedy was in advance of the people, and 
found it a slow matter to raise his company of volun- 
teer militia. Having, however, obtained seven men, 
he procured the keys of the State armory here, and 
opened a recruiting office in that building about the 
8th of April. Handbills were then sent to Jordan, 
Port Byron, Weedsport, Seneca Falls, Skaneateles, 
Springport, and Aurora, calling upon patriots to come 
forward and enlist, and recruiting sergeants were sta- 
tioned in each place. The movement met with ridi- 
cule from every quarter, but the captain knew what 
he was about. He persevered. By the 12th of April, 
he had secured a fall company of soldiers. Bj the 
15th, he had one hundred and thirty-six men drilling 
in detachments on the streets of Auburn, The gen- 
eral government had not yet called for troops, nor 
did the mass of the people yet suppose them to be 
needed. 

The firing upon Fort Sumter, and the call of the 
President for seventy-five thousand men, roused our 
citizens to a sense of the peril of the republic. Cap- 
tain Kennedy's course was triumphantly vindicated by 
these events, his views as to the necessity for troops 
sustained, and the brave and independent manner in 



400 IJlSTOliY OF ALBLK2N. 

which he had acted upon his convictions placed in the 
most favorable light. 

Auburn was, after the President's call, the scene of 
energetic preparation for the coming conflict. The 
board of officers of the •iOth light infantry, militia, 
assembled at their armory on Tuesday, the 16th, to de- 
vise a proper plan for action. It was resolved that the 
four Auburn, companies of the command, namely : 
Co. A, Captain John T. Baker ; Co. C, Captain Peter 
Swift ; Co. D, Captain Charles II. Stewart ; and Co. 
E, Captain O'Neill ; should be recruited to the full size 
of one hundred men each, and six new companies- 
should be raised immediately ; and " That, when or- 
ganized, this regiment will promptly respond to any call 
that may be made upon it, by the Commander-in- 
chief, for military aid in support of the Constitution 
and the laws of the United States." John B. Kich- 
ardson was then Colonel of the 49th ; John A. Dodge. 
Lieutenant-Colonel ; Thaddeus B. Barber, Major ; and 
Henry M. Stone, Adjutant. The armory was thrown 
open at once to receive enlistments, and officers were 
detailed to attend there day and evening. The officers 
of the regiment engaged in an earnest and honorable 
effort to put the command on a sound war-footing. 

A law, passed by the Legislature the same day that 
the forementioned resolve was taken, authorizing the 
enlistment of thirty thousand volunteer militia for the 
term of two years, and appropriating three millions of 



TlIK KECOPJ) OK Tilii WAK. 401 

dollars for tlieir equipment, rendered the attempt to 
resuscitate the 49th fruitless. Its active members saAV^ 
the futility of their efforts, and threw tliemselves 
promptly into the business of forming companies under 
the new law. Captain John T. Baker, the popular com- 
mander of the old Auburn Guard, iirst began the pa- 
triotic labor of gathering recrnits for a ritle corps on 
the 17th of April. 

In response to a letter to Governor Moi'gan, Captain 
Kennedy having been informed that it was impossible 
to obtain gmis tor his proposed battery, he communi- 
cated the fact to his men, and invited them to follow 
him as riflemen. Many were unwilling to enter any 
branch of the service but that for which they had origi- 
nally enlisted. Forty were resolved to serve their 
country in any capacity. With this number as a 
basis, the captain began to form a company of rifle- 
men, and was again enabled to report at Albany the 
first full corps from Auburn. 

The populace of the city assembled at the court- 
house on the evening of Saturday, the 20th, to deter- 
mine how they could best aid the work of volunteer- 
ing. The throng that had filled the court-room was 
called to order by Hon. George Humphreys, the 
mayor, who took the chair. The earnest co-operation 
of the people in the movemeuts for recruiting in the 
city was then eloquently invoked by General Jesse 
Segoine, C. S. Burtis, Cyrus C, Dennis, Hon. Theodore 
24 



402 HISTOKY OF AUBURN. 

M. Poraeroj, Dr. S. AVillard, Dr. Richard Steel, Rev. 
Da}" K. Lee, E, B. Lansing, and others, whose patriotic 
utterances were greeted with cheers both long and 
hearty. In the midst of the wildest enthusiasm, aud the 
most deafening applause, the meeting then resolved 

" That we^ as citizens of Atiburn, will maintain tlie 
Government of the United State^^ with all the force 
and means that we possess ;'' and immediately pro- 
ceeded to make provision for the support of the fami- 
lies of such volunteers as should suffer want by their 
absence in the army. A volunteer fund was author- 
ized, and four thousand dollars subscribed thereto on 
the spot. Hon. George Humphreys, General John H. 
Chedell, and Charles P. Wood, were empowered to 
disbui*se it. A mass-meeting having been called for 
the 21th, the meeting then adjourned. 

Upon Sunday, the 21st, Auburn was pervaded with 
uncontrollable excitement. The sacred day was opened 
at sunrise by the unwonted sound of the firing of can- 
non. The streets w^ere filled during the day with de- 
tachments of troops under arms, drilling under their 
respective commanders, and the various recruiting 
officers were surrounded with throngs of excited peo- 
ple, pressing forward to enroll their names among the 
■volunteers. The Stars and Stripes fluttered from every 
■pinnacle and tower, from windows, and across the 
streets, and were displayed in many of the chm-ches. 
The pulpits of the city, without exception, appealed 



TlIK KECOED OF THK WAR. 40P> 

in the most thrilling terms to the people to sustain tlie 
government in the momentous crisis throuo-li which it 
was passing. At the Second Presbyterian Church, the 
reverend orator declared that no one should enter his 
door or take him by the hand who was not for the 
Union, and the people burst forth into prolonged ap- 
plause. At the Koman Catholic Church, the Irishmen 
were entreated to spring to arms, and defend the 
republic ; and sixty men left the church in a body, 
marched to the armory, and enlisted under Captain 
Owen Gavigan. When night fell upon the town, three 
full companies of volunteers were awaiting orders to 
march. 

Captain Kennedy's company, however, was more 
than full. Seventy-seven was by the order of the Ad- 
jutant-General the maximum of a company, and the 
Captain had one hundred and thirty-three. The ex- 
cess was transferred to a company then forming un- 
der Captain Theodore H. Schenck. 

John Ammon began recruiting for a fifth command 
about the 21st. Captain Charles H. Stewart, of the 
"Willard Guards, paraded his corps on the 24th. and, in 
a speech to them from the steps of the Western Ex- 
change, declared his intention to tender his services to 
the government at once. He marched his men to the 
armory, began recruiting, and before night had raised 
men enough to organize a company. 

Simultaneously with the efforts for the formation of 



404 HISTOUV OK ACliUKX. 

tlie six volunteer coiiipauies in Auburn, werii those for 
the organization of four more in the county and dis- 
trict at large, by Solomon Giles, of Weedsport, James 
E. Ashcroft, of ISeneea Falls, Nelson T. Stephens, of 
Moravia, and James E. Angel, of Union Springs, re- 
spectively. 

The proceedings of the mass-meeting at the court- 
house on the l24th of April were the most un(|ualified 
assurance of the thorough union of the citizens of Au- 
burn, without regard to class, party, or creed, on the 
question of suppressing the rebellion. If our people 
had been slow to anticipate the attempted destruction 
of our national fabric, thej were now to a man resolved 
to defend the union of the States against the assaults of 
its foes at any cost and all hazards. The logic of se- 
cession as a remedy for their asserted evils was sa 
sadly against the Southern States, that the Democratic 
party in Auburn stood shoulder to shoulder with the 
Republicans in upholding the enforcement of the laws, 
and the maintenance of the Federal imion. 

Hon. John Porter presided at the meeting. When 
the applause that Ulled the room, as he took the chair, 
had subsided, he addressed the dense crowd before 
him briefly, declaring that the South alone was re- 
sponsible for the terrible resort to arms, and he 
thanked God that in this crisis all party ties were ig- 
nored. The companies of Captains Kennedy, Baker, 
Stewart, and Ammon, then entered the court-room. 



THE KECORD OF THE SVAK. 405 

and were assigned a position in the center. Michael 
S. Myers, Theo. M. Pomeroj, John IT. Chedell, 
Charles P. Wood, Edward II. A. very, William Fosgate, 
and George J. Letchworth, were appointed a com- 
mittee to prepare resolutions. During their absence 
Clarence A. Seward and Eev. B. I. Ives were called 
to the stand, and made rousing speeches. Resolutions 
were reported and adopted, viz : 

" Resolved., That iu pressing secession to a violent and bloody is- 
sue, the South has taught the North an invaluable lesson — that 
the capacity of the people of the United States is not lost, for rising 
instantlj'- and en masse above all considerations of party and self, 
they maintain fully the reputation so well earned, and so freely 
given to the Fathers of the Revolution, and the framers of our be- 
loved Constitution. 

" Resolved, That the preservation of the Union and the Consti- 
tution presents no debatable question to the loyal citizens of 
the Empire State, and that the ready and earnest enlistment of 
our volunteers furnishes an appropriate expression of the senti- 
ments of the county of Cayuga. 

" Resolved, That we tender to all traitors to the Union our ex- 
tremest sympathy, when they meet upon the battle-fields of Mary- 
land the ' aid and comfort ' expected from the loyal States. 

" Resolved, That we can at this time and on this occasion only 
reiterate the sentiments expressed upon the organization of this 
meeting, by our Representative in Congress, that upon this issue 
we are one, and that we are for affirmative and positive action ; and 
we call upon our Administration to move energetically and de- 
cidedly, or they will be in danger of being overrun by a determined 
and patriotic people. 

" Resolved, That iu this hour of our country's peril, we know no 
flag but the flag of our Fathers, and in one solid plialanx we wjl! 



406 lUSTOliV OK ATBUKN. 

march under the Stais and Stripes — the Banner of our Unit)n — to 
victory or death." 

Speeches were made by Messrs. Myers, Pomeroy, 
and Fosgate, Captains Kennedj^, Baker, Stewart, and 
Ammon, and by "Wm, Allen, George Rathbnn, and 
others ; and, after the appointment of one man from 
every town of Caynga Connty, to act in concert with 
the committee of this city in raising and applying the 
volunteer fund, the mass-meeting adjourned. 

After providing liberally for the maintenance of the 
soldiers' families, our citizens sought ways in which 
they might further testily their patriotism and sympa- 
thy with the troops. The presentation of swords, 
revolvers, and military trappings, became then the 
popular passion. The Sons of Temperance placed a 
splendid brace of pistols, with rosewood cases, in the 
hands of Captain Baker on the 22d ; and on the same 
day, that officer was publicly presented with a sword, 
in behalf of Major Barber, who had received the same 
from the Auburn Guard, M'hen he was its captain, 
and Baker his lieutenant. Captain Kennedy was pre- 
sented with a brace of pistols, at the Armory, on the 
23d. E. G. Storke, Esq., made the address, in which, 
among other things, he said : " You, Sir, was among 
the first to he^-r, and the readiest to respond to the 
patriotic call. Home, family, friends, with all their 
endearing associations, could not hold you back. A 
prosperous business, dependent for its success on you 



THK EECOKD OF THP: WAR. 40T 

alone, could not hold von back. But, with alacrity 
and enthusiasm, yon were iirst at the muster, as no 
doubt you will be in the coming encounter." Mr. 
Storke's words were emphasized by the spontaneous 
applause of every citizen present. Captain Gavigan, 
Captain Schenck, and their lieutenants and under- 
officers, all were furnished with swords and revolvers 
by their admirers and friends. Nor was the Helmet 
of Salvation unthought of. Captain Kennedy received 
a magnificent Bible from the Board of Education ot 
Auburn, of which he had been a member, and his men 
were given one apiece. Captain Stewart was present- 
ed publicly with a handsome copy of the Book, in 
front of the Western Exchange, on the 27th, by Dr. 
Huntington, of the seminary, in behalf of the ladies of 
the city. 

The volunteer companies of this county and district 
were mustered into the service of the State, upon presen- 
tation of the proper papers, by Brigadier-General Jesse 
Segoine. Although Captain Kennedy had been first 
in the field, and had enlisted and reported the first full 
company of men, singularly enough he was anticipated 
in the date of muster by a competitor. Captain Baker 
was mustered first, and thus gained for his company 
the right of the Cayuga regiment. Captain Kennedy's 
company, however, gained the left. Baker was mus- 
tered on the 21st; Kennedy on the 24:th. Captains 
Gavigan's and Schenck's commands were mustered the 



4:08 UISTOKY OF AUBUE>'. 

day folloM'Jiitr. and Cci[)taiii AslicrotVs at Seneca Falls, 
on the 26tli. The Adjutant-General having been in- 
formed of the readiness of tliese five companies to 
march, directed them to do so at once, and to report to 
Brigadier-General Yan Yalkenhui'ir. at the depot at 
Elmira. 

Governor Morgan's call for twentv-one additional 
regiments of volunteer^ was issued on the 25th day of 
April. 

Monday. April 29rh, 1S61. M'as a day to be remem- 
bered in Auburn. It had been announced that the 
battalion was about to move, and the people of the 
city and county were pervaded with intense feeling, 
as they were thus summoned to lay their first oblation 
on the altar of the country. Hearts beat quick that 
day, and in tlie city all classes forsook their employ- 
ments, and thronged the streets. Stores were closed, 
business was suspended, the schools were dismissed, and 
few residences were not totally vacated. The country, 
too, was alive, and at an early hour in the morning, ve- 
hicles of every description might have been seen rap- 
idly driving toward the citv. From every road they 
came and jammed the main streets of the town, till the 
press was almost intolerable. Every one Avas talka- 
tive and anxious. The wind kissed every inch of bunt- 
ing in the city. Patriotic people were decked with 
badges and cockades. Soldiers and officers dashed about 
here and there in the hottest haste ; everything was tur- 



THE KKCORD OF THE WAR. 409 

moil and confusion. Tlie streets in the vicinity of Bak- 
er's cigar store and the Armory, where the companies 
were forming, were choked with crowds of people. Cap- 
tain Schenck's company was first formed ; marching up 
State Street, it halted in front of the Western Ex- 
change, where it was soon joined by Captain Kennedy. 
The latter was here presented with a valuable regula- 
tion sword in the name of George Clapp and other' citi- 
zens, by General Jesse Segoine ; this ofticer, by the way, 
was also presented privately before his departure with 
the sword of the late Major Doty, by that gentleman's 
w^idow. 

Joining Baker and Gavigan, the companies were 
then formed in column, and marched, under escort of 
the Auburn Band and the Auburn and "Willard 
Guards, through North and Chapel Streets, to the de- 
pot. Twenty days before, tliese brave men had been 
quietly engaged in the shop or on the farm in the pur- 
suits of peace. They now were pressing forward, im- 
pelled by the purest patriotism, to encounter the hor- 
rors and privations of war. Never had the people 
been so profoundly stirred as upon this day, never did 
men before in Auburn receive such an ovation as met 
the volunteers during tlieir departure. At every turn 
the most tumultuous cheers and shouts rent tlie air ; 
handkerchiefs, hats, canes, and flags, were frantically 
waved in salute ; and blessings and cries of God speed 
came from every lip. As the column approached the 



410 



IJItJTUKY OF AUBUKX. 



depot, that edifice was found to be in the possession of 
an immense crowd of people. State and Chapel 
Streets were ])acked for I'ods ; the prison wall on the 
opposite side of the road was covered ; and the interior 
of the depot was a dense mass of excited citizens and 
relatives, gathered to catch a last glim]>se of their 
brave boys in the ranks. A position in the center of 
the depot was attained with great difficulty. The 
train appeared a little after two o'clock pushing its 
way slowly into the building, with four cars attached 
for the men, which were instantly filled. Hands were 
shaken and kissed through the M^indows, and final 
farewells were hurriedly exchanged. Then, wnth the 
booming of cannon, and amidst the enthusiastic cheers 
of eight thousand people, the train moved ofif, bearing 
the Auburn boys westward on their way to Elmira^ 
while the vast crowd slowly moved away through the 
various streets homeward. 

Captains Stewart and Amnion remained in Auburn 
awaiting orders to move. Their companies were at 
length duly organized, and mustered on the 6th of 
May, and soon afterward joined the regiment at the 
general rendezvous. They were followed immediately 
by the others. 

The first Cayuga regiment was organized, and 
mustered into the United States service for the 
term of three months, on the 22d of May. It re- 
ceived the title of the " 19th N. Y. S. Volunteers.'* 



THE KECORD OF THE WAR. 411 

The iield, staff, and company officers were then a& 
follows : 

Colonel, John S. Clark. 

Lieut- Col., Clarence A. Seward. 

Major, James H. Ledlie. 

Adjutant, Henry M. Stone. 

Surgeon, Theodore Dimon. 

Quartermaster, John Chedell. 

Q. M. Sergeant, Dennis Shell. 

Sergeant-Major, Charles Tomlinson. 

Company Officeks. 

Company A. — Capt. John T. Baker ; Lieut. Charles White - 
Ensign, Martin Laughlin ; Sergeants, Charles Tomlinson ; John 
T. Potter ; David McCreery ; and Barnett Nagle. 

Go. B. — Capt. T. J. Kennedy ; Lieut. John Poison ; Ensign, 
Henry C. Day ; Sergeants, Andrew Cowan, William H. Gault^ 
David C. Hutchinson, and William H. Barnes. 

Co. C— Capt. James E. Ashcroft ; Lieut. Samuel Clark Day ; 
Ensign, Charles B. Randolph ; Sergeants, Charles C. Graves, Adol- 
phus W. Newton, Alonzo Jordan, and Edward Manning. 

Go. B. — Capt. Owen Gavigan ; Lieut. William Boyle ; Ensign, 
Luke Brannack ; Sergeants, Patrick Dwyer, Daniel Dowling^ 
Patrick Handlen, and Daniel McCartin. 

Co. ^.— Capt. Theodore H. Schenck; Lieut. David A. Taylor ,- 
Ensign, Edward C. Burtis ; Sergeants, Henry P. Rider, Austin 
Haynes, Charles A. Henry, and James Harris. 

Go. F. — Capt. Nelson T. Stephens ; Lieut. Watson C. Squire ; 
Ensign, Edward D. Parker ; Sergeants, Edgar B. Warren, David 
P. Bothwell, Barna C. Goodridge, and Robert Haynes. 

Go. G*.— Capt. Charles H. Stewart ; Lieut. John Wall ; Ensign^ 
Antonio E. Robinson; Sergeants, Lewis Mowers, John White, 
Charles B. Quick, and George E. Sherwood. 

Co. H. — Capt. Solomon Giles ; Lieut. Augustus Field ; Ensign, 



412 IILSTOKY OF AUIJLKN. 

Marquis D. Nichols ; Sergeants, Cliarles M. Whiteside, William 
A. Hedges, Willis Watson, and Moutraville M. Hedges. 

Co. I. — Capt. John H. Amnion ; Lieut George W. Thomas ; 
Ensign, Randolph B. Kimberly ; Sergeants, Horace Silsby, William 
A. Kelsey, Thomas J. Lormore, and James S. Fuller. 

Oo. K. — Capt. James R. Angel; Lieut. A. IL Carr; Ensign, 
Lester W. Fosting. 

Two days after its muster into tlie service, the 19th 
regiment received uniforms from the State, the quality 
and appearance of which was positive evidence that a 
monstrous fraud liad been perpetrated by the con- 
tractors. N^ot only were our brave boys intensely dis- 
gusted witli their shoddy garments, but the citizens of 
Auburn also ; and the latter held a public indignation- 
meeting at the court-house on the evening of May 
31st, to devise some practical means of remedy for the 
■shameful treatment of the regiment. Dr. Kichard 
Steel was chainnau of the meeting ; E. B. Lansing 
and Gr. W. Allen Avere secretaries. The speakers were 
Benjamin F. Hall, Wm. Allen, Theodore M. Pome- 
roy, and Rev. B. I. Ives. A committee, composed of 
Charles P. Wood, Benjamin F. Hall, and C. P. AVil- 
liams, re])orted resolutions, deploring the wrongs of the 
soldiers, and proposing the appointment of a commit- 
tee to demand in person, of the State Military Board, 
that decent clothing should be purchased the 19th 
regiment without delay. Theodore M. Pomeroy and 
Wm. C. Beardsley were delegated to perform this 
duty, which thev did at once, and laid before an ad- 



T!1K KKCOKD OF THE WAK. 41S 

journed meeting, held June tttli, the ]jroinise of the 
military authorities at Albany, to dress the 19th as 
soon as practicable in proper nniforms. 

On the afternoon of Monday, the third of June, a 
large number of ladies and gentlemen from Auburn 
departed upon the cars for Ehnira, with a stand of 
I colors prepared by the former for the 19th, to perform 
the ceremony of presentation. Among the ladies 
were Mr.?. C. H. Merriman, Mrs. Wm. 11. Seward, Jr., 
Mrs. Benjamin F. Hall, Mrs. George Underwood, Mrs. 
Theodore Dimon, and Mrs. Henry Morgan. The flags 
were delivered to the regiment on the fourth. Hon. 
Charles C Dwiglit presented the regimental, and Ben- 
jamin F . Hall the national colors, which were soon 
after borne by the command to the theater of active 
military operations. 

The general government, convinced by the disas- 
trous defeat of the Federal armies at the battle of 
Bull Run, July 21st, 1861, of the hopelessness of the 
promised peace in ninety days, and, by the expiration 
of the terms of service and the preparation to return 
home of the three months' volunteers, of the necessity 
for fresh supplies of troops, appealed after the battle to 
the Governors of the loyal States for additional aid. 
New York was requested to furnish twenty-five thou- 
sand three years' men. Governor Morgan's proclama- 
tion, dated July 25th, stated this fact, and announced 
that twenty-four regiments of infantrv would be im- 



414: HISTOKY OF AL■HUK^'. 

mediately raised in tliis State, as well as one of artil- 
lery, and six independent batteries of four guns each. 
Cayuga County responded in a noble manner to this 
call. 

Prominent citizens determined to imite their efforts, 
and send forth at once a second regiment. On the 
afternoon of Monday, September 2d, 1861, a large 
number of gentlemen met at the American Hotel in 
this city to de\dse the best means of effecting the de- 
sired end. Charles P. Wood presided. Dr. Sylvester 
"VVillard stated the object of the meeting. Colonel John 
A. Dodge, upon whose proposition to raise and com- 
mand the second regiment the whole movement was 
based, being then introduced, unfolded to the meeting 
his plans. He stated that he had been solicited to take 
the lead in this enterprise, and had resolved to do so. 
and to tender his services to the President through the 
Governor of the State. In view of the frauds and ill 
usage put upon our first regiment, still keenly felt b}" 
our citizens, the colonel proposed to raise, equip, and 
drill the new command here, marching, when called, 
directly from Auburn to the front. This plan was 
feasible, since the Governor had power to commission 
and detail officers to all such special duties. Many 
valuable men had agreed to join the colonel in form- 
ing his regiment. He therefore asked that a com- 
mittee of citizens might be appointed to act with him 
and his officers, and another, to go to Albany and 



THK KECORD OF THP: WAR. 415 

make the arrangements necessary for carryinsj his 
proposition into effect. He further stated that while 
funds w^ould be wanted for the transportation of re- 
cruits, it was his desire that none should be raised to 
support the families of his men, for he preferred that 
they should, if possible, be those alone who could leave 
their families in comfortable circumstances. The fol- 
lowing resolutions were then adopted : 

" Resolved, That Colonel John A. Dodge has our full and hearty 
sympathy in his project, and that we will give him our most 
earnest co-operation in forwarding to a successful result the 
undertaking he has initiated with such patriotic devotion. 

" Resolved, That an Executive Committee of nine be appointed 
to act with Colonel Dodge and others who may unite with him, 
and such committee is authorized to adopt such measures as in 
their judgment may be best calculated to carry out the determi- 
nation expressed in the first Eesolution. 

An executive committee, composed of Dr. S. Wil- 
lard, Hon. Theodore M. Pomeroy, Wm. C. Beardsley, 
Charles P. Wood, Elmore P. Ross, Samuel L, Busli, 
Wm. Allen, John H. Chedell, and Michael S. Myers, 
was at once elected. The occasion called forth earnest 
remarks from T. M, Pomeroy, Charles C. Dwight, 
Wm. Hart, E. B. Lansing, and Edward A. Thomas. 
1^0 time was lost. The same afternoon, the executive 
committee organized, and empowered Messrs. Wil- 
lard, Pomeroy, Beardsley, and Dodge to proceed at 
once to Albany, in pursuance of the patriotic design 
of the preliminary meeting. On the Saturday follow- 



416 JIISTOKY OF AlBLKN. 

ing, the committee liad the satisfaction of announcing 
publicly that Auburn had been made a depot for 
troops, and that Colonel ].)odj;-e had been commissioned 
to raise in this county a second regiment of volun- 
teers, which woidd be fed, equiped, and drilled at 
this post, in a camp soon to be i^rovided by the proper 
authorities. The manifest care and foresight dis- 
played in these preliminary measures by Colonel 
Dodge naturally won for him the most unlimited con- 
fidence of the people of this county. The array of 
talent and wealth pledged to his support in the per- 
sons of the executive committee, was perhaps the 
highest possible assurance that could be given of his 
patriotism, prudence, and courage. These things 
strengthened him materially in his enterprise, bring- 
ing around his standard a higher order of men than 
could have been reached undei' any other circum- 
stances. 

Recruiting for the new regiment was instantly be- 
gun. Authority to raise companies was successively 
conferred upon Hon. Charles C. Dwight, William 
Hart, John Clioate, William H. Cray, and Clinton D. 
McDougall, of Auburn, Luther Goodrich, of Meridian, 
Edward A. Thomas, of Spring-port, and Charles Hay den, 
of Port Byron. These gentlemen, who were in the 
main unfamiliar with the profession of arms, were all 
eminent and honored citizens of this county. They 
took the field together as early as September 7th, and 



THE liECOKI) OF THE WAR. 417 

appealed in the most forcible terms to the loyal and 
Union-loving citizens of Cayuga to rally to tlie defence 
of tlieir imperiled country. 

The most vigorous measures were employed to 
arouse and warm the country. Recruiting sergeants 
were sent into every town, glowing handbills decorated 
every public building and tavern, rousing war-meet- 
ings were held in every comnnmity, and earnest and 
talented orators took the stump, and traveled night 
and day from one village to another, calling upon the 
able-bodied to come for^^•ard and take up the sword. 

General Jesse Segoine, of this city, was one of the most 
untiring and successful of these stump speakers, and 
did more than any other one man to stir up the enthusi- 
asm and loyalty of our county. His sonorous voice, 
and his martial bearing, and his active mind, fitted him 
for just this work. Understanding human nature well, 
he wore his General's uniform at public meetings, and 
found the flash of his l)rass buttojis no inconsidera- 
ble help. He, at one time, made war speeches for 
sixty-three nights in succession, in this and five of the 
adjacent counties, sending home from each meeting 
the avails of his eflbrts in volunteers. 

The effect of these measures was magical. The re- 
cruiting officers met in every quarter the warmest en- 
thusiasm. Men of every profession and employment 
sprang into the ranks, and built up companies at a 
Avord. There was of course a race for the right of the 
25 



418 IIISTOKV OF AUJiUK-N. 

regiment. It seemed in the begiuuing to be within 
eas}-- reach of either Mr. Dwight or Mr. Hart, the ex- 
tensive re})ntation of each promising well for the quick 
formation of their respective commands. The position, 
however, was gained by Mr. McDongall, who reported 
his company to Colonel Dodge on the 10th of Septem- 
ber, and thus became captain of Company A. On the 
12th of September a Port Byron compan}-, under Tru- 
man K. Fuller, and an Auburn company, under "Wil- 
liam H, Cray, reported, and became respectively Com- 
panies B and C. Under the excitement of the hour, 
again did Auburn throw out her banners; her streets 
were again filled with the sounds of preparation. In a 
few days, further companies w^ere organized and re- 
ported, and the work w^ent handsomely on till, on the Tth 
of October, Lansing Porter had presented Colonel 
Dodge the ninth company of his command. Mr. Hart, 
who was among the original number of recruiting ofii- 
cers, having been tendered the chaplaincy of the old 
19th, had withdrawn from the field, giving the men he 
had raised to Captain Cra3\ 

The unprecedented rapidity with which the com- 
panies of the second Cayuga regiment were formed 
made it impossible for their commanding officers to pro- 
vide barracks at the post as soon as they were needed. 
It was necessary, however, to keep the volunteers in 
Auburn for the purposes of instruction and drill. 
Every available room, therefore, in the hotels and tav- 



THE EECOED OF THE WAK. 419 

<erns was secured to lodge recruits. But the pressure 
continued to increase, and, every boarding-house be- 
ing full, patriotic citizens finally threw open their resi- 
dences, and extended their hospitality to such soldiers 
as could not be accommodated elsewhere. A commodi- 
ous and convenient lot for a camp was at length obtain- 
ed, situated on the east side of Moravia Street. On the 
23d of September, Colonel Bodge went to Albany to 
get, if possible, such tents and camp equipage as would 
enable him to go into camp without delay. Failing in 
this, he hastened home with his full commission as 
colonel to urge on the erection of the barracks, which 
had then finally been commenced by means of moneys 
advanced by Dr. Willard, and other prominent gentle- 
men of the city, and by the banks. The guard-house 
had been put up, and ground broken for the kitchen. 
These were finished, and the company quarters put 
under way by the first of October. The latter were 
ready for occupancy by the 12th. 

The regiment marched into camp for the first time 
on Monday, the 14th of October. It then numbered 
about seven hundred and fifty men. Comparative 
quiet was restored to the city. 

The members of this gallant corps were now the 
recipients of every favor that the ingenuity of their 
friends could suggest. Money, swords, pistols, horses, 
books, cakes, pies and camp equipage, were lavished 
with an open hand. The gift of a magnificent sword 



420 lUSTdUV OF AL'liUK^". 

to Captain McDougall, by the Auburn Literary Asbo- 
ciation, tbrougli Benjamin B. Snow, Esq., one of its 
honored members, on tlie 2?><\ of October, was one 
instance of the many. 

Arms and uniforms liaving been issued to tlie 75th, 
it was daily and constantly drilled in all the evolu- 
tions of the company and battalion, and made fast 
advances towai'd perfect efficiency. Its officers, hav- 
ing the advantage of the instructions of Lieutenant- 
Colonel Merritt, a young officer direct from the uiili- 
tary academy at West Point, were enabled to bring 
the men to a state of high discipline, that won flatter- 
ing encomiums from the press of New York when the 
regiment came to march through that city, on its way 
to the front. 

Meanwhile, active efl:bi'ts for the enlistment of the 
tenth company of the regiment were being put forth, 
in the city, by E. Kellogg Beach, Esq., who was meet- 
ing with flattering success, lie was assigned quarters 
at the barracks, on the 2d of ISi^ovember, with thirty 
men, as captain of Company Iv. He was, however, 
unable to bring the command to the required size, and 
suffered it to be consolidated with Company I, Cap- 
tain Porter. Lieutenant AVm. 11. Stevenson, of Com- 
pany B, was then detailed by Colonel Dodge to re- 
cruit for Company K. 

The regiment was designated the 75th jS". Y. S. 
Yolunteers, on the 11th of November, per special 



THE RECORD OF THE WAR. 421 

order No. 485 of the Adjutant-General of the State. 
It was dh'ected to report to Brigadier-General Rath- 
bone, for muster into the United States' service, at 
laiew York. 

Though comfortably housed, and blessed with an 
abundance of wholesome rations, the 75th, while in 
camp in Auburn, began to suffer the little inconven- 
iences, aud cravings, and distresses, which the soldier 
invariably encounters. The men wanted towels, and 
clean linen, butter on their bread, and cream in their 
coffee, and rare bits ad infinitum. They bravely con- 
quered these wants day by day, but their hungry souls 
found relief, more than once, in tlie kind ministrations 
of friends, l^ever were their teeth gnashed more joy- 
fully, than upon a certain occasion, when every man 
in the regiment was presented with a whole pumpkin 
pie, the gift of the patriotic ladies of Owasco. The 
75th ate a thousand pies that day, and blessed' 
Owasco. 

The colors of the 75th regiment were obtained 
through the patriotic exertions of two young ladies of 
this city — Miss Sarah Dill, and Miss Helen M, Bart- 
lett. The ladies collected in person all the means and 
materials needed for their object, and sacrificed time 
and ease, till the silken tokens of their loyalty were 
ready for presentation. One of the flags was wrought 
by the skillful fingers of Miss Dill herself ; the other 
was made by Tift'any & Co., of New York. 



422 HISTORY OF AUBURN. 

Tlie colors were presented to tlie TStli on the after- 
noon of Thursday, I^^ovember 21st. The regiment 
liaving been eond noted to Genesee Street, was formed 
in double column, closed in mass, in front of the court- 
liouse. The ladies appeared in a carriage, and "with 
the standards in their hands took a position on the- 
stone steps of the building. Colonel Dodge and staff 
having then advanced to tlie front, were eloquently 
addi'essed by Hon. T. M. Pomeroy, in behalf of the- 
donors, and presented with the colors. After a brief 
reply by Colonel Dodge -with the expression of grate- 
ful thanks, cheers long and hearty were given for the 
75th, and for the ladies of Auburn, and Cayuga. 
County, and the T5th returned to the barracks. 

Orders to march were received the same day. On 
the 30tli day of I^ovember, 1861, two days after 
Thanksgiving, the T5th broke up their camp at Auburn 
and prepared to move. The heavy fall rains, and the 
continual travel on all the avenues leading to the 
camp, had filled the latter with a deep, sticky mud, 
through which the regiment was forced to pass, at 
nine and an half o'clock, A. M., on its way to the depot.. 
To tliis point it was preceded and followed by im- 
mense crowds of people, anxious to bid the departing 
volunteers God speed. Assembled in the depot, the 
regiment was briefly addressed by the Rev. Dr. Con- 
dit. A special train of eighteen passenger and four 
baggage cars was moved up and an attempt made to 



THE RECOKD OF THE WAR. ' -423 

board it. • The pressure of the large crowd and the 
reluctant farewells of friends made tliis a difficult feat. 
However, after a scene of indescribable confusion, the 
soldiers were extricated, and secured on board the 
train, and then with the thunder of cannon and amidst 
the wildest hurrahs, the cars moved away, and the 
75th New York had gone f(.)rth upon its mission. It 
took from this and from Seneca County nine hundred 
men, the very flower of our population, the bravest 
and best in constitution and character. Its organiza- 
tion was then as follows : 

Colonel, John A. Dodge. 
Lieut-Col., Robert B. Merritt. 
Adjutant, E. B. Lansing. 
8urgp.on, Michael D. Benedict. 
(Quartermaster, Lewis E. Carpenter. 
Chaplain, Thomas B. Hudson. 
CoMPAJSTT Officers. 
Company A. — Uapt. Clinton D. McDougall ; 1st Lieuts. Robert 
B. Merritt, James H. Hinman ; 2nd Lients. Erastus^ E. Brown, 
Benjamin F. Thurber. 

Co. B. — Capt. Truman K. Fuller; 1st Lieut. William Henry 
Stevenson ; 2nd Lieut. Anson Tuller. 

Co. C— Capt. William H. Cray ; 1st Lieut. Charles Wilson 
Draw ; 2nd Lieut. Augustus W. Benedict. 

Co. Z).— Capt. Charles C. Dwight ; 1st Lieut. Andrew Y. Corn- 
ing ; 2nd Lieut. George D. Robinson. 

Co. E.—C&])t. Luther Goodrich; 1st Lieut. William Lewis 
Stanford ; 2nd Lieut. Francis Asbury Hopping. 

Co. J^.— Capt. Henry Bates' Fitch ; 1st Lieut. William Elias 
Aveiy ; 2nd Lieut. Florace B. Fitch. 



424 nisTOKY OK auburn. 

Go. (?.— Capt; John E. Saveiy; 1st Lieut. Lewis E. Carpenter, 
2nd Lieut. William D. Hamilton. 

Co. //.—Capt. John Choate ; 1st Lieut. Elbridge G. Miles ; 2nd 
Lieut. James E. Whiteside. 

Co. I. — Capt. Lansing Porter ; 1st Lieut. E. B. Lansing; 2nd 
Lieut. William H. Hosmer. 

Reacliing Albari_y, the regiment had the honor to be 
ordered to proceed at once to the important post of 
Fort Pickens. There it remained till the rebels had 
evacuated Pensacola, when it was sent to Louisiana, in 
which State it engaged in several battles with distin- 
guished bravery. Afterward, in front of Port Hudson, 
and then again in the Shenandoah Yalley in Virginia, 
it fought under the flag of tlie Union with valor and with 
success. 

Having now followed the T5th from its conception 
to its departure for active duty, it will be well to re- 
trace the time reviewed, and sketch briefly the eitorts 
in Auburn for ^he enlistment of troops in other com- 
mands. 

The July call for twenty-flve thousand men had pro- 
vided for the equipment of six independent batteries 
of artillery. The conmiand of such a battery was the 
original idea of Captain T. J. Kennedy, of the 19th reg- 
iment. Obtaining permission to leave his regiment 
and raise one of the six, he opened a recruiting office 
in Auburn September 9th. By the 2d of November 
he had mustered into his command one hundred and 
twenty-five men, raised notwithstanding the unusual 



TIIR KEOOKD OF THE WAK. 425 

popularity of tlie TStli, recruits for which were every- 
where being actively sought. Upon the 23d, his com- 
pany, called Kennedy's 1st Light Battery, N, Y. S. Y., 
was sworn into the U, S. service by Captain J. C. 
Peterson, of the 15th U. S. Infantry, for the term of 
three years. Its officers were as follows : Captain, T. 
J. Kennedy ; 1st Lieutenants, Andrew Cowan, "Wil- 
liam P. "Wright ; 2nd Lieutenant, James A. Wood- 
ruff'. Six towns had each supplied recruits to man 
one gun, viz : Venice, under Sergeant H. C. Yaughn ; 
Boonesville, Lewis County, under Sergeant N'athaniel 
Thompson ; Mies, under Sergeant Orsamus Yan Etten ; 
Auburn, Sergeant James R, "Wood ; Milan, Sergeant 
Jonathan E. Johnson ; and Aurora, Sergeant Henry 
S. Steele. Captain Kennedy was able to clothe his men 
here. lie left Aubm-n on the evening of Monday, De- 
cember 2nd, and at the head of his gallant band fought 
many bloody bf.ttles in the fields of A'"irginia and ISTorth 
Carolina. 

Captain Solomon Giles made the next effort for men, 
in favor of the 19th, at a public meeting at the court- 
house, December 5th, which he addressed. The old 
organization wanted nearly three hundred men to make 
its maximum, and our citizens were earnestly invoked 
to step forward and fill its depleted ranks. Hon. 
George Humphreys and John I^. Knapp made spirited 
speeches. But the enlistments were few. Recruiting 
lagged. Tlirough January scarce anything was done. 



42<) HISTORY OF AUBUKN. 

No detachments were forwarded from Anburu till 
tlie 7tli of February, w^heii Lieutenants Boyle and 
Allen went to the front with fifty men for the 3d Ar- 
tillery, into which the 19tli had meanwhile been con- 
verted. Lieutenant William A. Kirby, of the 3d, left 
Auburn March 11th for his command, at the head of 
tortymen. 

The surrender of Fort Donelson, announced in Au- 
burn February ITtli, was the occasion of a general jubi- 
lee. Flags were displayed, cannons fired, and bon- 
fires kindled ; at noon, all the bells in town rang out a 
merry peal, and the powerful whistle at the car-shop 
blew for an hour steadily during the discharge of a na- 
tional salute of one hundred guns. The cheering 
successes at Shiloh and Island 'No. 10., and at 
Newborn, and the repossession of New Orleans by 
Farragut soon after found a similar joyful echo in 
Auburn. 

Li the midst of the pleasant feeling excited by these 
events, there occurred an incident, which showed very 
happily the high consideration entertained in this com- 
munity for one of its loyal members. On the evening 
of Saturday, May 2-±th, a number of prominent gentle- 
men gathered in the ofiice of the Atihurn Daily Adver- 
tiser, among whom was General Jesse Segoine. The 
meeting was called to order, and General John Chedell 
invited to take the chair. D. P. Wallace was made sec- 
retary. Benjamin B. Snow then arose and read a let- 



THE RECORD OF THE WAR. 42T 

ter that had been handed to hhii in an open envelop^ 
running thus : 

Fort Pickens, Florida, April, 1863. 
Major- General Jesse SeGOiNE, Auburn, N. Y. — 

Dear Sir : I am commissioned by tlie officers of the field, 
staff, and line of the 75th regiment, N. Y. V., to forward to your ac- 
ceptance the accompanjdng cane. They beg you will accept it 
as a slight testimonial of their personal regard for you as a neigh- 
bor and friend, and of their appreciation of your zealous and dis- 
interested labors in behalf of the organization of the regiment to 
which they belong. The work of raising a second regiment in 
Cayuga County at the time when this was proposed, and under all 
the circumstances of discouragement which then existed, was no 
easy work. By many it was deemed impracticable. Your faith 
in the accomplishment never faltered, and your zeal failed not. By 
your eloquent public appeals, and your personal solicitations, by 
your kind words of encouragement to officers and men, by your 
valuable instructions in the art of the soldier, at all times freely 
given, by your constant display of interest in our welfare as a reg- 
iment, and as individuals, you aided much to fill our ranks, to en- 
courage our hearts, and to promote our skill and efficiency as sol- 
diers, and by all these acts, you gained our lasting gratitude and 
esteem. 

It is in testimony of these feelings, that we otfer you the little 
gift accompanying this note. "We know you will not measure the 
feelings which prompt it by the value of the gift. We wished it 
to be something associated with the island where we have been 
so long stationed, and which has been the theater, if not of our ex- 
Bloits, at least, of the trial of our faith, patience, and endurance ; 
and you will readily understand that the resources of this island 
afford no great variety of appropriate gifts. This cane, if not 
strictly a "natural product" of Santa Rosa, was at least found here 
in its rough state, and manufactured on the island. 



428 nis'foiiv ok albuh.v. 

Begging you lo accept it with tlie heartfelt wishes of us all for 
your long-continued health, welfare, and happiness, I have the 
honor to remain, in behalf of the officers of the 75th, 

Very respectfully and sincerely your obedient servant, 

Charles C. Dwight, Captain 75th Regiment N. Y. V. 

Mr. Snow then presented a rich, dark-colored cane, 
mounted by Tiffany & Co., of New York, bearing 
this inscription : "Major- General Jesse. Segoine, from 
the officers of the 75th Regiment, at Santa Rosa Island, 
Florida, 1862." The surprise was complete ; but the 
General rallied and made a neat reply, and pledged a 
continuance of his efforts for the honor of Cayuga 
County, and the welfare of the Union. 

Early in July, 1862, news came from the army of 
the Potomac that stirred the heart of every patriot 
with such grief and anxiety, that when, on the 1st of 
July, the President sent out his appeal for three hun- 
dred thousand additional three years volunteers, and 
on the 2d, that appeal was re-echoed by Gov. Morgan, 
few believed, under the universal discouragement, that 
a soldier could be raised. But in this city, several 
military men and citizens, with indomitable energy 
and hope, instantly revived the idea of a third Cayuga 
regiment, proposed the November before, and pre- 
pared themselves to raise it. It is impossible here to 
enter minutely into the story of the achievements of 
the summer and fall of 1862 in Auburn, notwithstand- 
ing tlie numerous instances of lofty patriotism and 



TlIK KECOKD OF THE WAR. 429 

self-sacriticing devotion to tlie Union with which they 
abound. We can at best no more tlian sketch their 
leading features. 

Hitlierto tlie work t)f enhstnient had been done by 
the patriotic citizens of the State in and for the vari- 
ous counties. There was now framed a system of do- 
ing it in and for military districts, into which the 
State was divided, by means of the influence and ef- 
forts of district military committees. For the Dis- 
trict of Caj^uga and Wayne, Grov. Morgan appointed 
the following committee : Wm. C. Beardsley, S. Wil- 
lard, M. D., Wm. H. Seward, Jr., and ]^. T. Stephens, 
of Auburn ; Hon. C. M. Abbott, of Niles ; and Hon. 
E. B. Morgan and Smith Anthony, of Aurora ; in 
whose hands ^vas lodged the supreme control of all 
eflTorts to recruit in the 'district. A majority of the 
committee met the morning of July 8th, with its 
chairman, Mr. Beardsley, to agree upon measures nec- 
essary to raise a new regiment. Having been author- 
ized to increase their own number, they did so, and 
sent E. B. Morgan and J. N. Ivnapp to Wayne County 
to procure active members to be added to the com- 
mittee from that region. They were furnished on the 
10th with the names of W. H. Adams, Joseph Wel- 
ling, and S. B. Gavitt, of Lyons; G. W. Cowles, of 
Clyde ; and J. E. Walker, Pomeroy, Tucker, and W. 
C. I^ottingham, of Palmyra. A joint meeting was 
held at Port Byron, Saturday, July 12th, when the 



430 HISTORY OK AL'BL'KX. 

gentlemen abo\e named, as well as S. K. Williams, E. 
N. Thomas, L. S. Ketchnm, Geo. W. Cuyler, Wm. T. 
Barne_y, Willis T. Gaylord, uf Wa^Tie, and Theo. M. 
PomeroY, Ileniy W. Dwiglit, Wm. A. Halsey, Geo. 

B. Gillespie, Wm. P. Robinson, A. L. Smith, W. Hos- 
furd, Charles ]S"ear, Pliilu Camp, x\mzi Wood, Wm. 

C. Cramer, and David. J. Van Auken, of Cavuga 
•Conntv, were added to the committee. A resolution 
was passed approving the call for 300,000 men. In 
pursuance of a request from the Governor that the 
name of some person fit for a regimental commander 
should be forwarded to him at once, the subject was 
introduced and discussed. The choice of the commit- 
tee fell upon General Segoine, then the most popular war 
man in this county, who was at the time in the town 
of Summerhill, working hard with Capt. E. A, Thom- 
as, to fill up the latter ofiicer's company. Sub-commit- 
tees were appointed to make aiTangements for war 
meetings in the various towns : for Cayuga, were J. 
iN". Knapp, X. C. Simons, and Wm. A. Halsey ; for 
Wayne, J. E. Walker, S. B. Gavitt, and G. W. 
Cowles. The care of the finance in Cayuga County 
was intrusted to E. B. Morgan, S. Willard, and Charles 
P. Wood, and in Wayne, to S. K. WilKams, S. B. 
Gavitt, and E. N. Thomas, who were empowered to 
incur a liability in each county of two thousand dol- 
lars. A mass-meeting was appointed at Aubm-n for 
the ITth, and another at Lvons, on the 19tli. Each 



THE KECOED OF THE WAR. 431 

town was assigned a certain specified part of tlie labor 
to perform, and a certain number of men to raise for 
the new regiment. The quotas assigned to the wards 
of Auburn, in their numerical order, were 28, 24, 21, 
and 37—110 in all. 

Springport was first in the field. Dr. Silas A. Tre- 
maine making a commencement in the work of recruit- 
ing on Monday, July 14th. The ball, however, did not 
fairly begin to roll till an enthusiastic war-meeting at 
Auburn, on the ITth, had revived once more the droop- 
ing spirits of our people. Delegations attended this 
meeting from the various country towns, especially 
from those south, which, assembling in procession on 
the day appointed, were led by Gen. Segoine from the 
court house to the park. After an eloquent prayer 
by Dr. Condit, Major Beardsley introduced Gen. Se- 
goine with a few happy remarks. Gen. Segoine on 
advancing was enthusiastically cheered. With a 
thrilling speech, he admonished the people of their 
duty, and then gave way for the meeting to organize. 
This was done in due form. Kesolutions submitted 
by J. IS". Knapp, E. B. Morgan, and Wm. Allen, endors 
ing the Union and the Constitution, and the call for 
300,000 men, denouncing secession as treason, and dis- 
loyalty as a crime, offering to sustain the supervisors 
of this county in raising a bounty of fifty dollars for 
each volunteer to the new regiment, and recommend- 
ing an appropriation to cover that charge, as well as 



432 HISTORY OK ATBUKN'. 

three thousand dollars more to defray iiicideiita] ex- 
penses, were adopted. 

Theo. M. Pomeroy spoke foi* half an hour. The 
Kev. Mr. Warner, of Weedsport, made a spirited ap- 
peal, under the intluence of which se\eral young men 
sprang forward and enlisted on the spot. The assembly 
was hereby wrought up to the highest pitch of enthu- 
siasm. An oiFer by E. E. Marvine, of this city, often 
dollars apiece for ten volunteers was greeted with long 
and loud applause. Among other speakers that suc- 
ceeded, E. B. Morgan appeared upon the platform, 
and said that he was authorized to offer to the first 
company that should be formed under the present call 
a bounty of two hundred dollars, one hundred to the 
second, and fifty to the tliird. He declined to an- 
nounce the name of the author of the offer, but Gen. 
Segoine took the responsibility of stating that it was 
none other than that of Mr. Morgan himself. The 
statement met with tremendous cheering. Other 
warm and hopeful speeches followed, after which the 
crowd dispersed, and the people returned to their 
homes. The eloquence of the speakers and the gen- 
erosity of our wealthy men made their impression. 
The despondent were encouraged, the indifferent were 
aroused. JSTo longer was the fearful reverse upon the 
Chickahominy considered the death-blow of the Un- 
ion, but faith and resolution again took the place of 
grief and alarm. 



THE EECOED OF THE WJK. 433 

The press, public men, and the war committee, la- 
bored assiduously to fan the glow of enthusiasm with 
which the people were now inspired, into a flame. Mr. 
Beardsley, the chairman of the committee, was untiring 
and self-sacrificing in his eflTorts to carry on the good 
work. Recruiting oflices were opened in Auburn by 
Captains E. A. Thomas, Lewis W. Husk, and Ezra H. 
Northrop, and the county rang with their appeals for 
troops. 

It having been reported that certain persons in the 
community were discouraging enlistments, the com- 
mandant of the post issued on the 13th a peremptory 
proclamation, declaring that all persons detected in this 
act should be an*ested, and visited with the penalty of 
the law. Its bold tone electrified the district. Every- 
where recruiting received the most powerful impulse. 
In Wayne County, particularly, the most intense ex- 
citement sprang up. Though second in the field, the 
captains of that region were first at the muster. By 
the 26th of July, Seneca B. Smith reported the first 
full company of men, for which, when the regiment 
was organized, he w^as rewarded with the post of ma- 
jor. John S. Coe reported quickly afterwards with a 
company that was lettered B. In Auburn, for some 
strange reason, enlistments were slc»w, although in 
"Wayne Countj'- the work was going on splendidly. 
Capt. Thomas indeed reported immediately to Gen. 
Segoine, and obtained for his command the letter C. 
26 



434: HISTORY OF AUBUKN. 

But tlie citj did not wake up to a vigorous perform- 
ance of its duty till spurred to do so by an immense 
war-meeting in front of the Western Exchange. The 
people were then fired with proper enthusiasm, and 
began to take vigorous action. Gov. Morgan had on 
the lYth offered a bounty of fifty dollars to every ac- 
cepted volunteer. The United States was offering 
one hundred dollars more. The different wards of 
Auburn now offered an additional local bounty of 
twenty-five dollars, a sum which was raised by private 
subscription, and faithfully paid. 

The unwearied exertions, however, of the ofiicers and 
speakers were the main causes of the rapid enlistments 
that now began. A stream of volunteers now set in 
from both counties. Four companies came down 
from Wayne, and Captains Husk and Northrop report- 
ed from Cayuga. Capt. Sidney Mead next brought to 
camp a band of sturdy farmers from Moravia, and 
finally, Capt. Tremaine's company from Springport, 
which, though the first begun, was the last organized, 
joined the regiment and the command was full. The 
bulk of this regiment was raised in twelve days, the 
whole of it in seventeen. Upon the 20th of August, 
1862, it was mustered into the service for three years 
or during the war, as the llltli ^N". Y. Y. Its organ- 
ization was then as follows : 

Colonel, Jesse Segoiue. 
Major, Seneca B. Smith. 



THE RECOKD OF THE WAK. 435 

Lieut-Col, Clinton D. McDougall. 

xidjutant, Henry H. Segoine. 
Surgeon, Wm. Vosburgli. 

Quartermaster, James Trulan. 

Line Officers. 

Gompany J..— Capt. Aaron P. Seely ; 1st Lieut. Samuel B. Mc- 
Intyre ; 2d Lieut. Ezra A. Hibbard. 

Qo^ 5.— Capt. John S. Coe ; 1st Lieut. Jacob T. Van Buskirk ; 
■2d Lieut. John Tremper. 

(Jo. C.f-Capt. Ed. A. Thomas ; 1st Lieut. Ira Jones ; 2d Lieut. 
Theo. Lampson. 

Co. B. — Capt. Sebastian D. Holmes ; 1st Lieut. Hasseltine S . 
Moore ; 2d Lieut. Erastus M. Granger. 

Co. ^.— Capt. Isaac M. Lusk ; 1st Lieut. Andrew D. SoveriJl 
2d Lieut. John A. Lanig. 

Co. ^.— Capt. Benj. W. Thompson; 1st Lieut. Robert C. Perry ; 
3d Lieut. John H. Drake. 

Co. 0^.— Capt. Lewis W. Husk ; 1st Lieut. John I. BrinkerhofF 
Jr. ; 2d Lieut. Edgar J. Hueston. 

Co. JET.— Capt. Ezra H. Northop ; 1st Lieut. Frank Rich ; 2d 
Lieut. Reuben J. Myers. 

Co. /.—Capt. Sidney Mead ; 1st Lieut. Merrill W. Murdock ; 2d 
Lieut. Arthur W. Marshall. 

Co. £■.— Capt. S. A. Tremaine ; 1st Lieut. Geo. M. Smith ; 2d 
Lieut. A. B. Capron. 

Upon the 4th of August, 1862, a further call of 
300,000 three years' men was made by the United 
States Government, with the admonition that a draft 
would be inforced if the country did not respond by 
volunteering. Few in this district believed that such 
an alternative would be necessary here. The men 
who had raised the 111th had merely broken the 



436 HISTORY OF a^uburn. 

ground. The tide of volunteering that set in with the 
first of August never ebbed nor abated ; on the contrary, 
it swelled to an unprecedented extent. The formation 
of a new regiment appeared to be scarcely the work of 
a week. 

On Thursday, the 8th of August, there occurred in 
Auburn an incident of intense interest. Capt. James 
W. Snyder, of Wayne County, had formed a company of 
infantry. It was full, but the men kept on coming. 
He took them all. In a few days, he had one hun- 
dred and eighty men under his command. They en- 
tered Auburn in a train of about twenty wagons by 
way of State Street, on the afternoon of the day men- 
tioned. Their arrival created the most unparalleled 
furor. Saluted with cannon, with flags, and the 
spontaneous cheers of thousands of people who came 
out to greet them, they were conducted through the 
principal streets of the city by Lieut. J. IST. Knapp, ad- 
jutant of the post, and after the most triumphant ova- 
tion ever yet bestowed on the same number of men in 
this place, they were led to the barracks, and assigned 
their quarters. Upon the spur of the moment, a com- 
mittee, consisting of "Wm. H. Seward, Jr., Gen. Se- 
goine, l^J". T. Stephens, and a gentleman from "Wayne 
Coimty, took the cars to Albany to obtain the authori- 
ty to raise another regiment. Having transacted the 
business in just fifteen minutes, they returned Friday 
evening with this order : 



the eecoed of the wak. 437 

General Head-Quarters, S. N. Y. 
Albany, Aug. 3, 1863. 

jSpecial Orders, No. 419. 

The Regimental camp established in the 25th Senatorial Dis- 
trict is hereby continued, and a second Regiment of Infantry is 
hereby authorized in said District. General Jesse Segoine, Col- 
onel of the Regiment now quartered there, will act as Comman- 
dant of the Camp. 

By order of the Commander-in-Chief. 

Thomas Hillhouse, Adj. Gen. 

The noble band of Capt. Snyder was now divided 
into two companies, Capt. Truman Gregory receiving 
command of the surplus men. The two companies 
became respectively A and B of the new regiment. 

The militar}'- committee met to consider the subject 
of a proper commander for the newly-authorized 
corps. The claims of "Wayne County demanding at- 
tention, the name of Joseph Welling, a member of the 
committee from that county, was accepted, and for- 
warded to the Governor. Col. "Welling received his 
commission in due time. There were in Auburn, on 
the 8th, three hundred men already for his command. 
Upon the 12th a company of ninety men was tele- 
grap]ied from "Wayne as being ready to start for Au- 
burn. By the 14th, other companies had reported 
sufficient to swell the number of recruits to seven hun- 
dred, which made the regiment an assured success. In 
this city everything was bustle and activity. The wards 
were putting forth their best efforts, by means of com- 



438 HISTORY OF AUBURN. 

mittees, to escape the impending evil. Cliarles Bur- 
gess and others were making up companies in town. 
The citizens turned in and helped. Many that could 
not give time, gave money liberally. Generous dona- 
tions from wealthy residents enabled the wards to offer 
local bounties of fifty dollars to married, and thirty-five 
to single men. The time arrived for the expected con- 
scription. But the authorities were not ready. It was 
postponed till September 3d, with the announcement 
that the government was now desirous of filling up the 
decimated ranks of the old regiments, and that if a 
draft was to be made, it would be made first of all for 
their benefit. 

There were now quartered at the barracks a larger 
number of men than ever before. The immense 
crowds that daily visited the camp, and swarmed 
through the city, and the impossibility of exercising 
the proper control of the undisciplined troops, made it 
necessary to call on the Auburn militia for assistance 
in guarding the camp. This duty was performed on 
the night of the 19th by the Auburn, Willard, and 
Shell Guards. The contracted accommodations having 
made a new building necessary, a rough wooden bar- 
rack, with a capacity of five hundred, was erected to 
meet the requirements of the case. Room in abun- 
dance was, however, soon obtained. 

August 21st, the day after muster into the U. S. 
service, the 111th moved from the camp at Auburn. 



THE EECOKD OF THE WAR. 439 

At three P. M., one tlioiisancl and twenty-four strong, 
they marched to the Western Exchange, escorted by 
the Auburn Band, and the three Auburn companies 
of the 4:9th, under Col, Richardson. They were here 
presented with their colors, purchased at the expense 
of !N^elson Beardsley and Nathan Burr, through Hon. 
C. Morgan, after an appropriate address and response. 
Then, through clouds of dust and under a blazing sun, 
they repaired to the depot, where the largest crowd 
that had gathered in Auburn since the beginning of 
the war, had collected to witness their departure. At 
five P. M., the train of twenty-two cars, with two 
locomotives, moved out of the depot amid the deafen- 
ing cheers and salutes of the multitude, carrying on its 
way to the front one of the most splendid regiments 
of x^ew York State. 

Colonel "Welling continued the Auburn post under the 
name of Camp Halleck, of which J. IST. Knapp was ad- 
jutant. The major part of a regiment, as already 
stated, was already on hand, and such success crowned 
the continued efforts of his officers, that by the 26th of 
August, eighteen days after the issue of the order au- 
thorizing the formation of the corps, ten full compan- 
ies had been mustered in, and the regiment w^as organ- 
ized, September 19th it was mustered into the U, S. 
service, as the 138th N. Y. V. Half of the organization 
was from each county. The officers were : 
Colonel, Joseph Welling. 



4:40 UISTOUY OF AUBURN. 

Lieutenant- Colonel, Wm. H. Seward, jr. 
Major, Edward P. Taft. 
Adjutant, "Win. R. Wasson. 
Sergeant-Major, Lyman C. Comstock. 
Qiuirtermaste?', Henry P. Kuowles. 

LINE OFFICERS. 

Company J..— Capt. James W. Snyder ; 1st Lieut. James H. 
Hyde ; 3d Lieut. Rufus M. Campbell. 

Go. B. — Capt. Truman Gregory; 1st Lieut. Nelson F. Strick- 
land ; 3d Lieut. "Wm. E. Greenwood. 

Go. C— Capt. Loyal "W. Alden ; 1st Lieut. Harvey Follett ; 3d 
Lieut. Marshal B. Burk. 

Go. B. — Capt. Charles L. Lyon ; 1st Lieut. Anson S. Wood : 3d 
Lieut. Samuel C. Redgrave. 

Go. £'.— Capt. Selah Cornwell ; 1st Lieut. Seth F. Swift ; 2d 
Lieut. Geo. C. Stoyell. 

Go. i'"'.— Capt. Charles Burgess ; 1st Lieut. George "W. Bacon ; 3d 
Lieut. Sullivan B. Lamereaux. 

Go. G^.— Capt. Wm. Wood; 1st Lieut. Wm. Hawley ; 2d Lieut. 
Seymour Woodward. 

Go. i£— Capt. John L. Crane; 1st Lieut. Tunis Vosburg; 2d 
Lieut. Daniel B. Harmon. 

Go. I. — Capt. Hugh Hughes ; 1st Lieut. Orson Howard ; 3d Lieut. 
Philip R. Freeoff. 

Go. K. — Capt. Irwin Squyer ; 1st Lieut. Dennis E. Flynn ; 2d 
Lieut. George P. Krupp. 

The Board of Supervisors of Cayuga County con- 
vened August 22d, 1862, to consider tlie propriety 
of offering, in order to stimulate recruiting, a bounty 
to our volunteers. A resolution was reported in favor 
of giving one hundred dollars to every man who 
should enlist between August 23d and September 3d, 



THE EECOKD OF THE WAE. 441 

at which latter date the draft was expected to take 
place. An amendment making it fifty dollars pre- 
vailed. The county treasurer was empowered to issue 
bonds to raise the bounty. Auburn then girded herself 
for " coming in out of the draft." Upon an agreement 
signed by forty-two of the principal merchants of the 
city, that their stores should be closed after four o'clock 
P. M. of each day, until the 3d, in order that the undi- 
vided attention of all might be given to the business 
of recruiting for the army, Mayor George Humphreys 
issued a proclamation, August 25th, invoking all good 
citizens to engage in this movement, and lu'ge on the 
work. The stores were therefore closed on the 26th 
after four P. M., and for several days thereafter. En- 
thusiastic war-meetings were held in the street, with 
music and bonfires. Platforms were erected for the 
speakers, and near them the tents of recruiting officers. 
On the forenoon of the 28th a meeting of the busi- 
ness men was held, of whicli Charles A. Lee was chair- 
man, and William II. Arnett, secretary. The object 
was to appoint ward committees to facilitate recruit- 
ing, procure music for the meetings, and raise funds to 
continue the bounties. For this purpose, there were 
appointed in the First Ward, I. L. Scovill, E. B. Par- 
melee, and William FI. Arnett ; in the Second Ward, 
William B. Ehoades, H. J. Sartwell, and D. Wetherby ; 
in the Third, J^elson Fitch, S. Lockwood, and E. B. 
Cobb ; and in the Fourth, IT. Brooks, John Elliot, and 



44-2 [HSTORY OF AUBUKN. 

B. A. Tuttle ; who were solicited to act at once and 
decisively. 

The same day a full company of one hundred and 
one men was reported from Wayne County by tele- 
graph as awaiting transportation. 

The war committee, having resolved to raise 
another regiment that this district might escape the 
draft, met at Port Byron, and elected Captain Charles 

C. Dwight of the 75th, then at J^ew Orleans, Colonel 
of the new command. J. B. Yan Petten, of Wayne 
County, Chaplain of the 34th, was chosen Lieutenant 
Colonel, and William H. Sentell, of the 44th, Ellsworth 
Regiment, Major. 

The harmony of the action which had characterized 
the former meetings of the war committee was dis- 
turbed at this by party rivalry, insomuch that, on the 
30th, the chairaian, William C. Beardsley, forwarded to 
Governor Morgan his resignation. Upon the 2d, the 
reply came : " The Governor regrets that any cir- 
cumstance should have arisen to mar the harmony 
existing in an organization which has rendered so im- 
portant service to the country, and cannot accept your 
resignation. Your services cantiot he dispensed with 
at present P Through the m*gent solicitation of friends, 
Mr. Beardsley was persuaded to remain in the position 
of chairman of the war committee. 

War meetings were now daily held in this city, with 
unfailing enthusiasin for the Union. Enlistments, 



THE RECORD OF THE WAR. 443 

however, were not excessive. A great meeting was 
held at the parli on Sunday, the 31st, at which Rev. Dr. 
Hawley, Herrick Johnson, and Eev, B. I. Ives, made 
magnificent addresses. When the day had arrived for 
the draft, Cayuga County had raised, since the July 
call, over fourteen hundred men. Three hundred more 
would fill her quota. To obtain these, the supervisors 
met and increased the county bounty to one hundred 
dollars. Colonel Dwight had already four companies 
mustered into his regiment. But these were from 
"Wayne County. Cayuga seemed drained and the 
draft was impending. The war committee now made 
a final thrilling appeal. 

ONCE MORE TO THE BREACH. 

LAST APPEAL OF THE WAR COMMITTEE. 

PATRIOTS OF WAYNE AND CAYUGA. 

Only a few days remain to complete tlie work so gloriously co'm- 
menced. 

ifou have nobly responded to the call of our bleeding and out. 
raged country. Already, -within a few weeks, more than two 
thousand of your citizens have left the peaceful pursuits of indus- 
try, and have volunteered to beat back the traitor hordes that as- 
sail our national life. More must join them. The crisis is 
UPON us ! The national peril is imminent. If you would save 
our country from further desolation, and from ultimate ruin— if 
you would preserve the priceless boon of freedom for yourselves 
and for your descendants, if you would save the lives of the noble 
men already in the field, if you would put a speedy close to the 
inexpressible horrors of civil strife, and again enjoy the pros- 
perity and all the blessings of peace, order, and good government, 



444 HISTORY OF AUBDKN. 

rush, rush to the aid of our imperiled country I Let not an hour 
be lost ! FILL YOUR QUOTAS AT ONCE ! And even then do not 
falter in your patriotic labors. Add to your quotas, and thus in- 
crease the honor of your community. He who does most in a 
crisis like the present, best attests his patriotism and love of 
country. The national necessities admit of no delay. The auda- 
cious insurgents will acknowledge none other than the stern logic 
of POWER ; and they must be made to feel its irresistible force. 

There is now no middle ground. "We must triumph or become 
the vassals of a most violent and unrelenting despotism. We 
must subdue the insurgents, and force them to observe the Consti- 
tution and Laws of the country, or drive them from the soil which 
has too long been polluted with their traitor feet. The sturdy 
Northmen are fully aroused. They come forth in their resolute 
might to assert their love of free government, and to defend it 
from the assaults of either internal or external foes. "Will Cayuga 
or "WajTie falter in the noble work ? Shall a single conscript 
from these counties stand beside the patriot volunteers already in 
the field ? "We, in their behalf, emphatically answer, neter ! 
Patriots of "Wayne and Cayuga, " once more to the breach," and 
put forth one more vigorous and overwhelming effort to rescue 
the great cause of all from the dangers impending. 

" "Wji. C. Beardslet, Chairman. 

"Wm. H. Seward, Jr., Sec." 

Hopeful signs of activity being elicited by this ap- 
peal, the draft was again postponed. 

The 138tli broke camp, and quietly departed for the 
front on the morning of Friday, September 12th, by 
special train. Having been summoned to march in 
haste, they passed through the city at an hour when 
the streets were comparatively empty, and, embark- 



'JlIE EECOED OF THE WAE. 445 

ing, were off before the citizens were generally ap- 
prised of the movement. 

Colonel Dwight's regiment, now known as the 160th, 
increased by slow degrees. That officer arrived in 
Aubnrn from the South upon the evening of October 
20th, and was met at the depot by the battalion, under 
Lieutenant-Colonel Yan Petten, and by a large crowd 
of citizens. Introduced for the first time to his com- 
mand, he was received with rousing cheers, and re- 
plied to them in a few happy remarks. The following 
day, he took command of the barracks, now bearing 
the name of Camp Wayne. By the 28th the quota of 
Auburn was full, and recruiting virtually ceased in 
this place. 

The colors of the 160th were presented to that regi- 
ment ISTovember 11th, through Adjutant J. 'N. Knapp, 
who made the presentation speech. On the 18th, at 
four P. M., having been enlarged by the accession of 
two companies from Buffalo, the 160th, eight hun- 
dred strong, left Auburn upon the cars for New York, 
amid the salutations of an immense throng of people. 
It was mustered into the United States service for 
three years, at New York, November 21st, 1862. The 
organization was as follows : 

Colonel, Charles C. Dwight. 

Lieutenant-Colonel, JoLn B. Van Petten. 

Major, Wm. H. Sentell. 

Adjutant, Gorton W. Allen. 

Surgeon, Cyrus Powers. 



44:6 IIISTOKY OF AUBUKN. 

1st Assistant Sitrgeon, David W. Armstrong. 
Chaplain, Wm. Putman. 
Quartermaster, Dighton H. Winans. 

LINE OFPICEBS. 

Company A. — Capt. Wm. Potter ; 1st Lieut. Wm. J. Van Deusen ; 
2d Lieut. James B. Vauglm. 

Co. J5.— Capt. H. P. Underbill ; 1st Lieut. L. L. Wiieelock ; 3d 
Lieut. James Kelley. 

Co. C— Capt. B. R. Rogers ; 1st Lieut. Robert B. Ennis ; 3d 
Lieut. James V. D. Westfall. 

Go. !>.— Capt. J. D. Burrerd ; 1st Lieut. Myron H. Shirts ; 3d 
Lieut. E. H. Sentell. 

Co. E. — Capt. Henry Moore ; 1st Lieut. James Gray ; 3d Lieut. 
Nicbolas McDonougb. 

Co. F. — Capt. Josiab C. Jewett ; 1st Lieut. Gideon F. Moorey ; 
■3d Lieut. Edwin Kirby. 

Co. G. — Capt. Malcolm Wrigbt ; 1st Lieut. Horace Silsby ; 3d 
Lieut. A. S. Stillman. 

Co. H. — Capt. Daniel S. Vaugban ; 1st Lieut. CbarlesR. Cattord ; 
3d Lieut. Miles I. Jones. 

Co. I. — Capt. Allen L. Burr ; 1st Lieut. Sir Newton Dexter ; 3d 
Lieut. Robert R. Seeley. 

Co. K. — Capt. Lewis B. Hunt ; 1st Lieut. George L. Merrill ; 8d 
Lieut. Jobn H. Shaver. 

The barracks were left in charge of Brig.-Gen. John 
H. Chedell, who assumed command l!fovember 11th. 
He was relieved on the 1st of December by Major 
IS'orthrop, of the 9Yth K. Y. S. Yolnnteers. Adjutant 
Knapp retired from the service soon afterward, hav- 
ing borne an active and prominent part in the forma- 
tion of the three regiments. Recruiting ended in the 
25th Senatorial district for 1S62. 



THE EECOED OF THE WAK. 447 

The honorable achievements of this year will ever 
remain the boast of our citizens and the pride of the 
members of the war committee. The unexampled ti- 
delity and unwearied efforts of the latter saved the 
"district from conscription, and gave to the country 
three noble regiments of loyal volunteers. To Mr. 
Beardsley, the chairman of the committee, the utmost 
honor is due. With a fearless disregard of all party con- 
siderations, he threw himself into the front rank of the 
active war men of the county, and labored assiduously 
for the preservation of the Union. He assumed the 
clerical work of the committee, which was immense, 
and gave his private clerks continual employment for 
months. Through him officially were all recommen- 
dations for commissions made, while to him personally 
did many a brave officer and soldier incur a heavy 
debt of gratitude for substantial aid both before and 
after departure for the army. For his invaluable ser- 
vices he was once publicly thanked by Secretary Sew- 
ard. 

The war committee was discharged early in 1863 by 
Gov. Horatio Seymour. A smaller committee was 
subsequently appointed by him, composed of "William 
C. Beardsley, Elmore P. Eoss, and Benjamin B. 
Snow. 

The Loyal ISTational League or Union League of Au- 
burn, was formed at a public meeting of the loyal 
citizens of the city, held at the court-house March 25th^ 



448 HISTOKY OF AUBUKN. 

1863, as one of a system of organizations in all the 
Northern States, for the purpose of strengthening and 
encouraging Union men in the work of crushing the 
rebellion. It was required that every member should 
sign the following pledge : " We, the undersigned, 
citizens of the United States, hereby associate our- 
selves under the name and title of the Loyal N^ational 
League. We pledge ourselves to an unconditional 
loyalty to the government of the United States, to an 
unwavering support of its efforts to suppress the re- 
bellion ; and to spare no endeavor to maintain unim- 
paired the national unity, both in principle and in terri- 
torial boundary. The primary object of this league 
is and shall be to bind together all loyal men, of all 
trades and professions, in a common union to main- 
tain the power, glory, and integrity of the Union." The 
first permanent organization of the league was as 
follows : Cyrus C. Dennis, president ; N^. D. Car- 
hart and George W, Leonard, vice-presidents, 1st 
Ward ; Jonas White, Jr., and John S. Fowler, vice- 
presidents, 2d Ward ; C. G. Briggs and Wilham C. 
Barber, vice-presidents, 3rd Ward ; Eli Gallup and 
C. Eugene Barber, vice-presidents, 4th Ward ; J. I^. 
Knapp, corresponding secretary; and William H. 
Meaker, recording secretary. 

Laws, providing for the enrolment of all the males 
of the republic, by Congressional Districts, into a na- 
tional militia, under the supervision, and by means of 



THE KECOKD OF THE WAR. 449 

boards, composed of a provost marslial, a commis- 
sioner of enrolment, and an examining surgeon, upon 
wliicli tlie President miglit draw from time to time, 
having first given fifty days notice, for material to fill 
the Federal armies, were passed by Congress in the 
spring of 1863, In accordance with which John N. 
Knapp, of Anbnrn, was appointed in April, 1863, pro- 
vost marshal of the 24th Congressional District of ]^ew 
York, comprising the counties of Cayuga, Seneca, and 
Wayne; James M. Servis, of "VVayne County, commis- 
sioner ; and Dr. Davis, of Seneca Falls, surgeon. An en-^ 
rolment of Cayuga and Wayne Counties, that had been 
eifected during the fall of 1862, under Colonel John 
M. Sherwood, commissioner, and Edward Hall, M. D., 
examining surgeon, was now revised, and carried on 
through the entire district, by the newly appointed 
Board. 

Eeturns at the ofiice of the Provost Marshal Gene- 
ral, in May, indicated that the number of the available 
'ighting men of the nation, between the ages of twenty 
and forty-five, was 3,500,000. Upon this magnificent 
body of reserves, a draft was ordered, to take place in 
July, the call being intended to supply the places of 
a large number of the two years veterans, whose terms 
of service were about to expire. 

While the enrolment was progressing, the tranquil- 
ity that then pervaded Auburn, as in times of peace, 
was one day broken by the sudden arrival from the, 
27 



450 HISTORY OF AUBURN. 

seat of war of four hundred and thirty swarthy, 
Weather-beaten soldiers of the old 19th, under Cap- 
tains Wall and Gavigan, and Lieutenants Fuller, 
Sherwood, Tomlinson, Potter, Randolph, Boyle, 
Brannick, Dwyer, J. Fred. Dennis, and others, bearing 
a familiar, but now tattered flag, to be mustered out of 
the service. The citizens, not being apprised of their 
approach till too late, were unable to greet them in a 
manner suited to their wishes. The storm of cheers, 
and demonstrations of joy, however, that arose from 
the assemblage of citizens and military and fire com- 
panies at the depot, and the eloquent and heartfelt 
address in their behalf, by J. 1^. Knapp, at the Western 
Exchange, must have convinced the returning volun- 
teers that they were welcome. They arrived May 
26th. On the 29th, the regiment paraded and was 
addressed in front of the court-house, with a glowing 
speech from Hon. William H. Seward, Secretary of 
State. The men were paid off at the court-house, 
and mustered out June 6th. 

Matters at the provost marshal's office being in 
readiness, on the 23d of Jul}^, about threp weeks after 
the splendid victories at Yicksburg and Gettysburg, 
a draft for the quota of the 24rth district was com- 
menced at the court-house. The famous riot was at 
the time raging in 'New York city. Forcible resist- 
ance, and the mobbing of the provost marshal's office 
having been threatened here, by certain irresponsible 



THE RECORD OF THE WAR. 451 

parties, in case a draft should be enforced, the citizens 
were impelled by prudence to place the armory under 
guard, and to organize a special police force of two 
hundred men, and the old 19th was invited by the 
common council to remain in Auburn till the draft 
was over. These precautions, fortunately, proved to 
be needless. The draft was carried on for three days, 
without disturbance. So groundless, indeed, were the 
fears of an insurrection, in this loyal and order-loving 
city, that the conscription was received by the elect 
with the most unshaken good humor. And, on the 
evening of Thursday, the 23d, they formed a procession, 
numbering about two thousand, Avith banners and 
transparencies, and paraded the principal streets, with 
■cheers for the government, and " the man that drafted 
them." 

The suffering condition of numerous families of vol- 
unteers in this city, and the likelihood that the draft 
would cause distress to others, were pressed, during the 
summer of 1863, upon public notice. The Citizens' 
Yolunteer Fund being exhausted, the common coun- 
cil was led to create another for the same object. At 
a meeting of the board, August 3d, 1863, Alderman 
John S. Fowler introduced the following preamble and 
resolutions : 

"Whekeas, In the operation of the act of Congress, passed March 
3d, 1863, commonly known as the Conscript Act, there are fami- 
lies iu this city likely to be left without the necessary means of 



452 HISTORY OF AUBURN. 

support, as are also some families of volunteers now in the mili- 
tary service of the United States ; therefore, 

" Resolved, That this Board hereby appropriates the sum of five 
thousand dollars and such other sums as may from time to time 
be deemed necessaiy to aid in the support.of families whose mem- 
bers have volunteered, and are now in military service, or may 
hereafter be drafted into such service from this city ; the moneys 
so appropriated to constitute a separate fund to be known as the 
Soldiers' Relief Fund, in accordance with Chapter 514, laws of 
1863, of the State of New York." 

The fund created by this resolution was placed in 
the hands of Thomas Douglass, city treasurer, who 
disbursed the whole of it to the needy, during the en- 
suing winter and summer. It may be remarked that 
five thousand dollars was added to this fund by an or- 
der of the common council, dated August 16th, 1864, 
and six hundred more on a later occasion. 

The examination of conscripts took place at Corning 
Hall. The men came in from every part of the dis- 
trict, in companies, with wagons, and often with ban- 
ners and bands of music. 

The avails of this draft was commutation money, 
however, instead of soldiers, A provision of the law 
of Congress had secured to drafted men the privilege of 
exemption, on the payment of three hundred dollars to 
the government. Four hundred and fifty men only were 
sent to the front by the provost marshal under this draft. 

The same failure to obtain the required number of 
men occurred in the country at large. 



THE KECOED OF THE WAE. 453 

A call was therefore made by the President, October 
17th, 1863, for 300,000 men, and the Governor of 
'New York was informed that this State was expected 
to put in the field, by January 4th, its quota of 108,058 
soldiers. The quota of this county was soon after an- 
nounced to be seven hundred and sixteen men ; that 
of the city, one hundred and fifty-four. 

Our supervisors, having received assurances from 
"Washington, that if this county filled its quota by vol- 
unteering, no draft would be made upon its citizens to 
fill the quota of other counties, passed a resolution re- 
questing the various towns to hold special town meet- 
ings on the 12th, and vote upon the propriety of pay- 
ing a bounty of three hundred dollars to volunteers 
under the last call, the bounties to be a county charge. 

Forty-nine hundred votes were cast on the day ap- 
pointed, two hundred and forty only of which were op- 
posed to the measure. The supervisors, therefore, on 
the 16th of December, 1863, authorized the payment, 
to recruits enlisting to the credit of this county, of a 
bounty of three hundred dollars. Horace T. Cook, 
county treasurer, was empowered to issue bonds, to be 
paid in one or two years, to the amount of $220,000, 
in order to raise the required funds. 

Eecruiting under Governor Seymour's war commit- 
tee was carried on by agents, who were paid the sum 
of twenty-five dollars for every accepted volunteer. 

Four of these agents were appointed by this county. 



454 HISTORY OF AUBURN. 

namely : Captain John II. Amnion, Captain William 
B. Rhoades, Lieutenant Martin Laughlin, and Sylves- 
ter Schenek. These gentlemen labored hard, and, in. 
a week's time, recruits began to be received at the rate 
of sixty or seventy each day. No new organizations 
were formed, the men all going into the old regiments 
of the county and vicinity. All enlistments were 
made through the office of the provost marshal, and 
such was the jam at this point through December and 
January, that a guard of veterans was detailed to pre- 
serve order. About the 10th of January, after a month 
of incessant labor, the 25th district had filled its quota. 

On the first of February, 1864, the nation wa& 
called upon to furnish 200,000 men, in addition to the 
last levy of 300,000. The quota of Auburn was one 
hundred and five ; that of the county, four hundred 
and ninety-three. The recruiting agents worked vig- 
orously, and the quotas were all raised by volunteering,, 
in twenty days. 

The enlistment of recruits to represent individuals 
not liable to draft was the popular passion in the early 
part of 1864. It was one of the many devices used to 
swell the army with good men. 

The command of the camp at Auburn was transfer- 
red in February, 1864, to Major Henry Y. Colt, 104th 
N. Y. Y. 

The powers conferred upon the President of the 
United States by the conscription law were twice re- 



THE KECOED OF THE WAE. 455 

sorted to in 1S64. In the first instance, a call was 
made Jnly 18th, for 500,000 one year's men, to be im- 
mediately raised, if possible by volunteering, but by a 
draft at the expiration of the fifty days allowed by law, 
if the soldiers were not otherwise obtained. The quota 
of the 24:th district was twenty-six hundred and thirty ; 
of the county, it was eleven hundred and seventy-four. 
Eecognizing the importance of a prompt response to 
the appeals for troops at that eventful period of the 
war, the wards of this city with great decision deter- 
mined to raise the handful of men assigned to them at 
once. Each ward took substantially the same course. 
The Board of Supervisors having, at the motion of 
William J. Moses, agreed to grant a bounty of three 
hundred dollars to every able-bodied recruit, the wards 
held public meetings, and appointed war committees, 
which they authorized to raise money, enlist soldiers, 
and perform all duties incident to the business of fill- 
ing the quotas. The active men of these committees 
were, in the First "Ward, John M. Hurd, Emory Os- 
borne, William Lamey, and Henry Lewis ; in the Sec- 
ond, Benjamin B. Snow, Eichard C. Steel, William 
B. Woodin, E. H. Avery, John S. Fowler, and William 
P. Kobinson ; in the Third, Elbridge G. Miles, William 
E. Hughitt, William J. Moses, John Choate, John S. 
Brown, Orlando Lewis, E. A. Thomas, KoUin Tracy, 
and Charles F. Durston ; and, in the Fourth, Myron 
Cowel, Truman Cowel, and Chester Weir. 



456 HISTOFLY OF AUBURN. 

On the 16th of August, the coinmou council author- 
ized the general law of February 9th, 1864, of two 
hundred dollars to every soldier enlisting to the credit of 
the city. On the 19tli, the supervisors again convened 
and raised the county . bounties to $600 for one year 
men, $650 for two years men, and $700 for three years 
men. The action of the city bounty ordinance was 
then suspended by Mayor C. G. Briggs. Tliat ordi- 
nance was soon afterward revoked, and in lieu thereof 
another was passed authorizing the payment to the city 
volunteers, after the wards should have enlisted fifty per 
cent, of their quotas, of a bounty of one hundred and 
fifty dollars. 

The Ward Committees, upon whose activity de- 
pended the question of conscription in Auburn, were 
now at work. Recruiting cabins were built at various 
places in the streets, committee-men attended with 
drums and flags, war-meetings were held at the court- 
house and in the streets, huge placards met the eye at 
every turn, bon-fires illumined the town at night, and 
finance committees ransacked the place for subscribers 
to the bounty funds. The town, also, was full of recruit 
brokers, who furnished volunteers or substitutes at 
prices ranging from seven to twelve hundred dollars. 

The yield of soldiers was large. They came to Au- 
burn from all the neighboring towns, many of them 
from the work-shops of Seneca Falls. The First Ward 
of this city did handsomely, furnishing from its own in- 



THE EECOKD OF THE WAE. 457 

habitants fifty fine fellows for a company then being 
raised by Captain Russell. The Second Ward was out 
of the draft by August 25th, and the Third, in nine 
days from the time it commenced work. The fifty 
days allowed for volunteering elapsed September 5th, 
but there was no conscription in the 25th district. It 
had then nearly filled its quota. By the 10th it had 
entirely. 

The second call of 186i, made December 19th, was 
the last of the war. 300,000 men were wanted, but 
the hearts of our war men sank when they heard the 
call. Auburn was in feeling and in faot well drained. 
I^ot only had our citizens expended in cash, for ward 
bounties under the July call, the sum of twenty thou- 
sand dollars, but the city had incurred a liability of 
twenty-five thousand and twenty-five dollars for city 
bounties, and a debt of about ninety thousand dollars 
for county bounties. And such was the terrible na- 
ture of the struggle in the field, that an enthusiastic 
volunteer was not to be found. 

Slowly and wearily did recruiting again begin in 
Auburn, under the direction of ward committees, cho- 
sen as follows : First Ward, John M. Hurd, William 
Lamey, and E. C. Selover ; Second Ward, Eichard C. 
Steel, E. H. Avery, Albert H. Goss, Benjamin B. 
Snow, William B. Woodin, and John S. Fowler ; Third 
Ward, John Choate, Charles A. Myers, John S. Brown, 
E. G. Miles, Eollin Tracy, Enos Bostwick, Josiah Fiero, 



458 HISrOKY OF aubukn. 

Charles Wellner, William J. Moses, and William H. 
Stevenson ; Fourth Ward, Myron Cowel, and Chester 
Weir. 

Five new infantry regiments were ordered to be 
raised in this State, and Lieutenant Colonel J. B. Yan 
Petten, of the 160th, was detached to recruit one at 
the Auburn post. 

The supervisors offered a bounty to three years vol- 
unteers, on the 18th of January, 1865, of five hundred 
dollars, and the city authorities, a premium of one hun- 
dred dollars hand money. The county bounty was 
changed, on the 16th of February, to $300 for one year 
men, $400 for two, and $600 for three years men ; and 
$250 were voted for drafted men. 

The city committees labored incessantly, and at the 
greatest sacrifice of time and means, to save Auburn 
from the draft. Though the men they furnished were 
in only too many instances mere mercenaries, who 
were after the bounties and that alone, they did the 
best they could under the circumstances, and are enti- 
tled to the lasting esteem and gratitude of the people 
of Auburn. 

The ofiice of the provost marshal of the 24th dis- 
trict of 'New York was transferred January 1st, 1865, 
upon the resignation of Captain John N. Knapp, to 
Captain Benjamin B. Snow. The headquarters then 
occupied the second, third, and fourth stories of the 
two buildings at the west end of the Exchange block. 



THE EECOKD OF THE WAE. 459 

on Genesee Street. Yolunteering continued at this 
office through the months of January and February, 
lagging at times, and at others accelerated by dread of 
the draft, or by reports of the successes of the armies 
in the field. The 193d regiment, forming at the Au- 
burn post, received the largest proportion of those en- 
listing here. Many of the privates of this command 
were genuine patriots. More were not, and, by the 
1st of March, were deserting from the camp in the 
night, in squads of thirty and forty at a time. 

The 24th district, this time, did not get out of the 
draft. In Auburn, three wards were doing splendid- 
ly, but the fourth, scarce anything. Several country 
towns were wofully behind. Captain Snow, there- 
fore, could no longer delay the conscription. The 
second draft in Cayuga County began at the court- 
house in Auburn, at two o'clock P. M., of March 15th, 
1865. Luckless Owasco, chosen by lot from the defi- 
cient towns, was drawn from first, and Sodus next. 
In due time, a draft was also made from the fourth 
ward of Auburn. This business was carried on with 
occasional interruptions, for about ten days — two or 
three hours being drawn from each day. Whenever 
recruiting was sufficiently brisk to keep the employes 
of the provost marshal's office busy, drafting was dis- 
continued ; when it lagged, drafting was resumed. 
Conscripts began to report at headquarters the last of 
March. Such as were accepted received a short fur- 



460 HISTOEY OF AUBURN. 

lough, to enable tliem to ^YincI up tlieir affairs prepara- 
tory to a march to the front. The men thus obtained 
were a splendid material for the armies. Sound, 
hearty farmers and mechanics, they accepted their fate, 
when once determined, with pleasant faces and reso- 
lute hearts, and, donning uniforms, went cheerfully 
forward to take up arms for the government. Squads 
of from twenty to forty at a time left Auburn for 
Elmira, till several hundred had been credited to the 
24:th district. 

Upon the second of April, volunteering received a 
powerful impulse, from the news of the fall of Rich- 
mond. Within a few days thereafter the 193d 
regiment, still in camp here, had more than a thousand 
men on the rolls, some being received from Oswego 
and other places, and was fully organized with the 
following officers : 

• Gohnel^ J. B. Van Petten. 
Lieut-Col.'y Zo\LYi. C. Gilmore. i 
Ma^or, Alford Morton. 
Adjutant, Thurlow B. Wasson. 
Quartermaster, Charles H. Bailey. 
Surgeon, David H. Armstrong. 
Chaplain, W. Dempster Chase. 

Captains : — John Jones, Edwin C. Knapp, William H. Porter, 
Archibald H. Preston, Joel Reed, James H. Hitchcock, Sidney W. 
Ainsworth, Orin D. Staplin, "Wm. L. Yeckley, and Wm. H. 
Harris.^ 

Under the stimulus imparted to volunteering by 



THE RECORD OF THE WAR. 461 

the brilliant successes of the Federal armies in Yir- 
ginia, two of the wards of the city quickly filled 
their quotas, and the others were doing splendidly, 
when, on the 14th of April, four years exactly from 
the day that the tidings of the evacuation of Fort 
Sumter reached Anburn, the following order wa& 
borne over the telegraph wires : 

Elmiea, April 14, 1865. 
Capt. Benjamin B. Snow, 

Pro. Mar., 24th Dist, N. Y. 

Discontinue drafting and recruiting till further orders. 

S. B. Hayman, A. A. P. M. Gen., W. D. N. Y. 

The fact was announced upon the street, and filled 
the city with powerful excitement. A few volunteers 
were in the act of signing enlistment papers, in the 
mustering room of the provost marshal's oifice. These 
were instantly shown down into the street, and the 
ofiice closed against further applications. The bounty 
brokers and recruiting agents indulged in expressions 
of the wildest joy, rushing here and there, and 
tearing down their signs and placards, amidst the 
shouts of the populace. The drafted men, honest 
fellows, many of them already wearing the army blue, 
being fully prepared to go to the front, were the only 
ones who were discontented by the changed aspect of 
aifairs. They, indeed, could scarcely conceal their 
disappointment. 

This was the close of the war in Auburn. An order 



462 HISTOKY OF AUBUKN, 

iirrived on the 25th, directing the discharge of all 
conscripts not forwarded to general rendezvous. 

Thenceforward, nothing remained to be done at the 
-office of the provost marshal, but to prepare for a final 
winding up. The office "svas transferred to Syracuse 
in October, and soon after consolidated with all others 
in Washington. Captain Snow received an honorable 
discharge from the laborious and responsible position, 
the duties of w'hich he had discharged for nine months 
with signal ability and integrity. 

When our city rested from her labors at the close of 
the rebellion, she had expended directly in the enlist- 
ment of troops, for city bounties, expenses, hand 
money, and relief to soldier's families, the sum of one 
hundred and ten thousand dollars. 

The number of soldiers furnished from her actual 
residents was as follows: Recruits to the 19th 
regiment; 112 ; 3d artillery, 117 ; 75th infantry, 49 ; 
111th infantry, 37; 138th infantry, 24; 160th 
infantry, 15 ; 193d infantry, 18 ; 9th artillery, 51 ; 
scattering, 202 ; total, 625. 

Commissions were held by a large proportion of 
these, viz: 

Brigadier-Generals, J. H. Ledlie, Cliuton D. McDougall, 
John S. Clark, and William H. Seward, Jr. 

Colonels, Charles H. Stewart, Terence J. Kennedy, John A. 
Dodge, Jesse Segoine, Clarence A. Seward, Charles C. Dwight, 
Lewis W. Husk, and Edwin P. Taft. 

LiEUT-CoLOKELS, Hcnr}'' M. Stone, and Wm. M. Hosmer. 



THE RECORD OF THE WAR. 463 

Majors, Tlieodore H. Sclienck, Wm. R. Wassou, Charles Bur- 
gess, Sullivan B. Lamoreaux, Lewis E. Carpenter, Benjamin F. 
TJiurber, James H. Hinman, and Sidney Mead. 

Surgeons, Theodore Dimon, David H. Armstrong, Charles L. 
George, and John I. Brinkerhoff. 

Chaplains, William Hart, Henry Fowler, Thomas B. Hudson, 
Simon S. Goss, and John E. Worth. 

Captains, John T. Baker, Owen Gavigan, John H. Ammon, 
John Wall, and Charles White, of the 19th Inf. ; George E. Ashby, 
William M. Kirby, William A. Kelsey, and Samuel P. Eussell, of the 
3d Art'y ; William H. Cray, Henry B. Fitch, John Choate, Charles 
W. Crocker, John E. Savery, Elbridge G. Miles, and William H. 
Stevenson, of the 75th Inf. ; Edward A. Thomas, Ezra H. Northi-op, 
Robert E. Perry, Jerome M. Lattin, John I. Laing, and Edgar J. 
Hueston, of the 111th Inf.; Edwin Kirby, of the 160th Inf. ; Cap- 
tain Adams Merriman, and Andrew Cowan, of the 1st Light Batt'y. 

First LiEUTS., Martin Laughlin, Charles Tomlinson, Edgar H. 
Titus, William Boyle, Luke Brannack, John Stevenson, Jr., David 
W. Stewart, George H. Crocker, Antoine E. Robinson, George W. 
Leonard, Jay E. Storke, George E. Sherwood, and Frederick W. 
Prince, of the 8d Art'y ; Seth F. Swift, George P. Knapp, Lyman 
C. Comstock, and Lendall H . Bigelow, of the 9th Art'y ; John 
Poison, J. Fred. Dennis, and Randolph R. Kim.berly, of the 19th 
Inf ; Edward B. Lansing, James K. Warden, Horace B. Fitch, and 
Frederick Cossum, of the 75th Inf.; Henry H. Segoine and Roland 
R. Dennis, of the 111th Inf.; Gorton W. Allen, and Stephen G. 
Hopkins of the 160th Inf; Thurlow B. Wasson, Dexter Smith, 
and George D. Lanehart, of the 193d Inf; and William P. Wright, 
of the 1st Light Batt'y. 

Second Lietjts., Richard J. Allen, Patrick Dwj^er, Martin Web- 
ster, George H. Wright, John O'Neil, and James O. Woodrufl', of 
the 3d Art'y ; Charles E. Patten, and Charles H. Hitchcock, of 
the 111th Inf. 



464 



HISTORY OF AUBUKN. 



Tlie formation of societies of ladies in Auburn, 
for the purpose of alleviating the sufi'erings of our 
gallant armies while in the field, is a subject worthy 
of honorable mention. 

When protracted war had become a fixed fact, and 
camp life had shown that exposure and disease were 
enemies far more terrible and destructive to our 
soldiers than the national foes themselves, and that 
the preservation of the comfort and health of the 
northern armies was therefore a matter of the most 
vital importance to the country, the ladies of the 
Good Samaritan Society of this city were assembled 
by their president, Mrs. Alvah Warden, at the 
residence of the Rev. T>&j K. Lee, in order to 
determine how they might aid the humane efibrtB 
of the Sanitary Commission for the good of our 
volunteers. A series of meetings at Corning Hall 
was resolved upon, in order to prepare flannels, 
havelocks, medicines, and delicacies for use in the 
hospital and camp. These meetings w^ere held and 
were attended by the loyal women of the town 
generally. Large quantities of sanitary stores were, 
by this means, collected and forwarded to the army. 
Among the articles that were most urgently needed 
for the soldiers during the fall of 1861 were blankets. 
Mrs. Frances Seward, wafe of Secretary Seward, saw 
upon one occasion large bodies of volunteers sleeping 
in the open air on the ground near the city of Wash- 



THE EECOKD OF THE WAK. 465 

ington, without the slightest coveriDg or protection. 
Finding, upon her return to Auburn, directly after- 
wards, that the Good Samaritan Society could not do 
all that the times seemed to require of the ladies of 
this city, she originated, and directed the preliminary 
steps toward the organization of, another association, 
known as the Ladies' Union Society, in which, how- 
ever, her modesty forbade her taking any prominent po- 
sition. Quarter-m aster-General M. C. Meigs had 
been, from the first of October, appealing to the loyal 
families of the country for contributions of blankets 
from their surplus stores. Mrs. Seward desired to 
press this matter particularly. 

Accordingly, a committee, composed of Mrs. Benja- 
min F. Hall, Mrs. Niles Perry, and Mrs. William H. 
Seward, Jr., issued a card to the public, and, referring 
to General Meigs' call, invited all who were so dis- 
posed to bring their surplus blankets, if weighing not 
less than four pounds, to Corning Hall, whence they 
should be forwarded for the use of the troops. Large 
numbers of blankets were sent into the hall ; but most 
of these were diverted from the use of the soldiers in 
the field, to the 75th, then forming at the camp in Au- 
burn. A call, signed by Mrs. Harmon Woodruff, Mrs. 
Miles Perry, and Mrs. Benjamin F. Hall, was then 
made for the formation of the society. Pursuant 
thereto a large number of ladies met at the rooms of 
the Y. M. C. A. October 21st, 1861, and organized 
28 



466 HISTORY OF auburn. 

the Ladies' Union Aid Society, Mrs. Wordeu was 
tendered the presidency. Her duties in a similar posi- 
tion in the Good Samaritan Society caused her to de- 
cline it. Mrs. David Hewson was then elected presi- 
dent ; Mrs. Benjamin F. Hall, vice-president ; Mrs. 
O. F. Knapp, treasurer ; and Mrs. P. P. Bishop, sec- 
retary. A large committee was appointed to meet at 
the rooms every Thursday with the members of the soci- 
ety, to plan the work, and assist in its execution. The 
committee consisted of Mrs. E. l!»r. Pomeroy, Mrs. J. 
I^. Starin, Mrs. T. Nelson, Mrs. William H. Hosmer, 
Mrs. James K. Cox, Mrs. C. H. Merriman, Mrs. H. L. 
Knight, Mrs. M. L. Kerr, Mrs. Maltby, Mrs. S. C. 
Lester, Mrs. Stahlnecker, Mrs. Day K. Lee, Mrs. C. 
Mcll^eil, Mrs. Samuel Titus, and Mrs. C. Miller. The 
membership of the society was soon over an hun- 
dred. 

Meetings at the beginning were generously permit- 
ted to be held in the rooms of the Y. M. C. A. After- 
ward, at different times, they were held in a room 
over the Auburn City Bank, on the corner of l^orth 
Street, belonging to Messrs. Brown & Lee, whose 
constant encouragement of the object of the organiza- 
tion is a matter of grateful remembrance, and also in 
one of the rooms in the basement of the 2d Presbyte- 
rian Church. They were usually held once a week, 
but in times of pressing want, as at the close of a great 
battle, the ladies assembled semi-weekly or even daily, 



THE EECOED OF THE WAE. 467 

and made up and sent on box after box of the sanitary, 
hospital, and other stores, then so necessary. It will be 
proper to say that in the faithful promotion of the pliysi- 
cal welfare of the national troops, in the incessant 
devotion of time and means to the work of the Aid 
Society, and in the amount of work actually accom- 
plished by them, Mrs. Titus, Mrs. C. H. Merriman, 
and Mrs. Hewson were, amongst an hundred noble 
women, unapproachable. 

The labors of the aid societies of Auburn ended 
only with the disbandment of the Federal armies. The 
Good Samaritans were indefatigable to the last mo- 
ment, and the Ladies' Union Aid Society ceased only 
when they had come to realize the return of peace. 
A statement of the articles sent to the array is here 
given. They were 230 second-hand shirts, 1277 
sheets, 2100 cotton shirts, 640 flannel shirts, 71 surgi- 
cal shirts, 92 flannel wrappers, 1324 pairs cotton 
drawers, 467 pairs flannel drawers, 261 arm slings, 
67 eye-shades, 1216 pairs of socks, 223 blankets, 
spreads, and quilts, 62 bed-sacks, 538 pillows, 862 
pillow-cases, 448 pairs of slippers, 2689 towels, 3097 
pocket handkerchiefs, 142 dressing-gowns, 7480 com- 
fort-bags, 2889 rolls of bandages, 68 coats, 58 vests, 
47 pairs of pants, 502 pairs of mittens, 1776 bottles 
and cans of wine, jelly, etc., 1 cask of wine, 2 cases 
of claret, 31 bottles of blackberry syrup, 1 barrel of 
elderberry vinegar, 100 cans and jars of pickles, to- 



468 HISTOKY OF AUBUEN. 

matoes, etc., 9 barrels of pickles, two barrels of eggs, 
1,701 pounds, foiu' barrels, and four boxes of dried 
fruit, 21 busbels of dried apples, 140 papers of corn 
starch, farina, cocoa, etc., 102 cakes and bars of soap, 
120 tin cups, 50 bottles of cologne, 7 barrels of lint, 
boxes of the same without number, a very large 
quantity of linen and cotton compresses, 776 books, 
58 fans, 28 brushes, 3 yards of oiled silk, numerous 
sponges, 32 pounds of pepper, 1 piece of flannel, have- 
locks costing $140, 60 yards of new cloths, sundries 
amounting to $100, freight equal to $124, and four 
flags costing $395. To this list should be added 
three competent female nurses fitted out and sent to 
minister to the suiferers at the front. Money was 
raised to the amount of $5,313. Yet this can not be 
said to be the whole of the good work done by the 
Ladies' Union Aid Society of Auburn, Their minis- 
trations to the sick amongst the soldiers quartered in 
our city constitute no small portion of their honor- 
able record. For heroic zeal and earnest attention to 
both the bodily and spiritual wants of the inmates of 
the camp, Mrs. C. H. Merriman, Miss Ella Marvine, 
and Mrs. S. Titus are entitled to particular mention. 
]^or were the indigent families of volunteers neglected 
by them in the general effort. Their necessities 
were, as far as possible, cheerfully met and removed. 
The society met for the last time in the lecture-room 
of the 2d Presbyterian Church, July 6th, 1865. 



THE EECOED OF THE WAR. 469 

Those who had for four years toiled so faithfully 
for the comfort of both their own boys and dear ones 
in the field and those of pthers, and who, now that the 
weary war was over, had laid down the needle and the 
bandage to welcome back such of the heroes as had 
been spared in the struggle, met once more, to review 
the fruits of their labor, to receive the blessings of the 
community, and then to disband. The Rev. Mr. 
Boardman, Dr. Willard, Rev. Henry Fowler, Rev. 
Dr. Hawley, and Rev. Dr. Condit, each took the fl.oor 
on this occasion in eulogy of the devotion and cour- 
age of the association. Reports, giving summaries of 
the thiugs done by the society, were read, and resolu- 
tions, expressive of the gratitude of the citizens and 
soldiers, were adopted. Mrs. Merriman, then presi- 
dent of the society, and Mrs. Titus, then vice-presi- 
dent, each received a token of the public appreci- 
ation of their extraordinary labors. The former was 
presented with a memorial painting, executed by Mrs. 
Murdock ; the latter, with a bust of President Lin- 
coln. With the adjournment of the meeting the Aid 
Society dissolved. 



ATO HISTORY OF AUBUEN. 



CHAPTER YIII. 



AUBURN IN 1869. 



The City of Auburn is planted on the eminences that 
bound the basin of the Owasco Lake on the north, at 
the point where the outlet, breaking through the hills, 
leaps down a succession of natural and artificial falls, 
and affords a water-power, that, in many respects, is 
the most magnificent in the State. The latitude of the 
city is N. 42 deg. 53 min., and the longitude deg. 
33 min., E. from Washington. Lake Ontario lies 
thirty miles to the north. A densely populated farm- 
ing region, widely known for natural beauty and pro- 
ductiveness of soil, surrounds the city, and furnishes it 
with a large trade. 

The distance to Albany is 174 miles ; to Boston, 374 ; 
to Rochester, 78 ; to Buffalo, 147 ; to Chicago, 685 ;, 
to St. Louis, 874 ; to Detroit, 735 ; to Toronto, 237 ; 
to Montreal, ma Lake Champlain, 385 ; and to Quebec, 
554. To New York, by way of Albany, the distance 
is 318 miles ; by Cayuga Lake, and Erie R. R., 317; 
and by Southern Central and connections, 394. To 
the city of Philadelphia, via S. C. R. R. it is 374 
miles ; to "Washington, by the same, the distance is 



ATJBUEN IN 1869, 471 

400 miles, but, by way of Seneca Lake and ISTorthern 
Central E. E., no more than 384. 

Area of Auburn 3,600 acres. Assessed value of real 
estate (not including 7tli ward) $3,035,125 ; personal, 
$2,251,730. Bonded debt, in aid of old L. O., A., & 
K Y. E. E., $100,000 ; loan to the S. C. E. E., $500,- 
000. Floating debt none. 

The Owasco Outlet, at a distance of two miles from 
the lake, runs into the city with a northerly course, 
makes an abrupt turn in the heart of the town, and 
runs out directly westward. Substantial framed bridges 
are thrown across the stream at six different points. 
The ground descends toward the outlet in every part 
of the city proper ; the drainage is therefore excellent. 
The principal part of the town lies in the valley of this 
stream. The plain upon the bold hill that bounds the 
valley on the north and east contains, however, some fine 
residences and important public Institutions ; it is now 
being generally occupied by the new dwellings of our 
growing manufacturing population. The region of ele- 
gant residences immediately surrounds the beautiful 
eminence known as Fort Hill, whose groves and green 
sides have aided our landscape gardeners in an extra- 
ordinary degree. 

Beds of blue and gray limestone and Oriskany sand- 
stone underlie every part of Auburn, and crop out 
from the hill-sides, and along the bed and banks of the 
outlet. The quarries of building, paving, and water- 



472 



HISTORY OF AUBUKN. 



limestone are valuable and inexhaustible. The blue 
limestone has a peculiar tendency to assume a fissured 
character, the fissures crossing at right angles and cor- 
responding in direction with the cardinal points of the 
compass. 

The city is laid out with considerable though not en- 
tire regularity. Ninety or more streets subdivide its 
area into blocks, which, among the residences, are gen- 
erally rectangular in shape, but in the business parts 
of the citj'- polygons of every description. The irregu- 
lar arrangement of the principal thoroughfares may be 
ascribed to the early importance given to Auburn by 
the timely enterprise of our first citizens in erecting 
and maintaining a bridge over the outlet on North 
Street. It will be observed, by glancing at the map, 
that all the grand turnpikes laid out across the site of 
Auburn meet at or near this bridge, which was for 
many years the only point on the whole stream where 
a crossing might be affected with a loaded wagon. 

This was a circumstance of great moment, when the 
-chief highways of the country were being located and 
opened. The Owasco bridge governed the location of 
North, South, Genesee, Franklin, Clark, and Garden 
Streets, and, therefore, the plan of Auburn. The 
■cross streets have all been put in at right angles to the 
main avenues. 

The streets are dry, straight, and comparatively 
level. So many changes have been made in the grade 



AUBUEN IN 1S69. 4^3 

and character of the streets since the incorporation of 
Auburn, that many of them are quite bejond recogni- 
tion by those who saw them in their virgin state. A 
most fortunate change, truly ; for, if the testimony of 
the most ancient inhabitants is worthy of belief, this 
virgin state of the Auburn roads caused our village 
much disquietude of mind and spirits, as well as the 
surrounding country ; since, in spring and fall, the peo- 
ple were summoned daily, nay, almost hourly, not 
only to extract teams, wagons, and cattle from some 
one of the numerous frog-ponds and miry places in the 
streets of the place, but to endure the vituperations of 
their owners, which were always, by the way, bestowed 
so heartily, that, on a quiet day, those living in the next 
towns could plainly hear them ; whereas, the city now 
reposes amongst her hills undisturbed, in the serene con- 
sciousness that she has elevated morality in the com- 
munity, and ameliorated the condition of the traveling 
world and her citizens, by burying the pools, leveling 
the hillocks, draining the soil, and providing spacious, 
straight, well-paved thoroughfares. Kows of hand- 
some elms, maples, poplars, and sycamores, now adorn 
every street. Auburn, indeed, is the city of shade- 
trees. 

The residences of the place are, for the most part, 
solid and elegant structures of brick and wood, and 
stand in the midst of lawns, conservatories, fountains, 
choice shrubbery, and other evidences of taste. The 



474r HISTORY OF AUBURN. 

business blocks are massive cut-stone and brick edi- 
fices, with handsome froAts and costly interiors, and 
are generally four stories high. The public buildings 
and works are of superior finish and architecture. 
Auburn fully maintains the reputation for beauty 
accorded to her modest little namesake in Europe, 
despite the ugliness of ancient rookeries in some 
of the older streets, and the drawbacks in this 
direction that attend an extensive manufacturing 
town. 

The number of buildings in the city is 3,154, of 
which there are 2,226 residences, (174 of the same 
having been built in 1868), 602 barns, 221 stores and 
shops, 13 churches, 7 banking-houses, 41 mills and 
manufactories, 6 school-houses, 6 wagon-shops, 4 
carpenter-shops, 1 theological seminary, 2 concert 
halls, 6 hotels and taverns, 4 fire-engine houses, 1 
prison, 1 court-house, 1 jail, 1 town hall, and 11 
miscellaneous buildings. 

PUBLIC BUILDINGS. 

Tlie Prison of Western New York is the first 
object that greets the eye of the traveler arriving 
in Auburn, It is visited daily by crowds of people 
from every part of the United States, who are 
conducted through the various shops and buildings 
at stated times by keepers. It now contains and 
employs at hard labor about nine hundred and 



AUBUKN IN 1869, 47& 

fifty convicts, whose services are let to contractors at 
the average rate of five shillings per capita per day.. 
The shops are six in number, namely : The hame^ 
shoe, tool, machine, cabinet, and sash and blind. An 
important benefit accrues to the city from the large- 
amount of cheap labor brought in by the prison, and 
the large sums annually expended by the institution 
for salaries and supplies, which latter range between 
two hundred, and two hundred and fifty thousand 
dollars. — The Theological Seminary, elsewhere fully 
described, contains much that is rare, precious, and 
ancient, and the visitor is fully repaid for inspecting 
it. — The Orphan Asylum, standing at the corners of 
Walnut, Bradford, and Owasco Streets, is a fine,, 
three-story brick building, surrounded by large, well- 
kept gardens, and grounds handsomely adorned with 
shrubbery and shade-trees, enclosed by a high lattice 
fence. The original asylum was opened in 1852^ 
in a wooden house on the east side of James Street^ 
by means of the untiring and benevolent exertions 
of Mrs. Harriet T. Pitney, a lady whose long 
experience and devotion to the cause of Sunday- 
schools convinced her of the urgent necessity of a. 
home in Auburn for orphan children, and whose con- 
victions led her to undertake its establishment. She 
was warmly supported in this work by Mrs. Mary 
Ann Eobinson, Mrs. Maria Keed, Mrs. Deborah A. 
Bronson, Mrs. Melita Chedell, Mrs. Abby Warden, 



4T6 HISTORY OF AUBUEN. 

Mrs. Andalusia Starin, Mrs. Harriet S. Conkling, 
and other benevolent ladies, many of whose names 
appear upon the first Board of Managers. The 
present site of the asylum, with a wooden house 
thereon, was purchased in 1854. The brick building 
was erected in 1857 ; its predecessor was moved off, 
and now formes the residence of Lewis Paddock, on 
Canal Street. The comfortable school-rooms, and 
well ventilated and orderly dormitories, are creditable 
both to the competent matron, Mrs. Eogers, and to 
the city. The asylum now affords a home and gram- 
mar-school education to eighty children. — The State 
Armory^ at the corner of Dill and State Streets, is a 
strong and capacious building of brick, containing a 
drill-room in the second story, seventy-five feet long 
by forty wide, and, in the first story, three company 
rooms and the headquarters of the 4:9th regiment, S. 
N. G. Two brass six pounders are posted here. A 
bill is now pending in the legislature to authorize the 
sale of this property, and the erection of a new 
armory in another quarter of the city. 

THE CHUKCHES. 

The First Presbyterian Church, at the corner of 
Franklin and IN'orth Streets, is now being demolished, 
and replaced with an elegant limestone structure, 
fronting the last-mentioned street. The session- 
house, now nearl}'- completed, cost $25,000 ; the 



AUBUEN m 1869. 4:77 

entire building will cost $100,000. Kev. Charles 
Hawley, D.D., Pastor. — The /Second Presbyterian 
Church is a lofty, cut-stone building, of Ionic archi- 
tecture, seating eight hundred and fifty people. The 
basement contains a session and a lecture-room. 
The church cost $17,000. Eev. S. W. Boardman, 
Pastor. — The Central Church congregation separated 
from the last-mentioned in 1856, and with great enter- 
prise laid the foundation of an imposing church, and 
built the superstructure the height of the basement 
story. This, being roofed, has since constituted the 
house of worship for the society. It is proposed and 
intended to erect a new and entire church on the 
west side of William Street the coming season. Rev. 
Henry Fowler, Pastor. — The Church of the Holy 
Family stands on the west side of ISTorth Street,, 
above Chapel. It is well built of brick in the 
N^orman style of architecture, with a handsomely 
painted interior, and seats twelve hundred people. 
The cost was $30,000. Eev. Thomas O'Flaherty, 
Pastor. — St. Mary^s Churchy (Roman Catholic), wa& 
organized in the summer of 1868, with Rev. T. A. 
Maher, Pastor. A temporary wooden chapel has 
been erected on the corner of Clark and Green 
Streets. — The Baptist Church is a plain, but sub- 
stantial stone edifice, standing on Genesee Street, 
between South and Mechanic. Nine hundred people 
may worship here at once. Rev. "W. H. Maynard, 



478 HISTORY OF A.UBUKN. 

Pastor. — St. Peter^s Chwch, (Protestant Episcopal), 
is situated on a fine lot on West Genesee Street in the 
midst of handsome shade trees, and the monuments of 
the dead. The location has few, if any, superiors in 
Western New York. The old stone, ivy-covered 
■church has been removed, and a larger structure partly 
completed in its place. A chapel at the north-west 
<?orner of the church has been constructed from the 
remains of the old building. Pev. John Brainard, 
Pector, — St. Johi's Church, (Protestant Episcopal), 
was organized April 13th, 1868, at school-house No. 
1, Fulton Street, where weekly religious services have 
since been held, by the young congregation. The parish 
contemplate the erection, during the working season of 
1869, of a fine lime-stone church, after plans prepared by 
George Casey, Esq., on a site lying at the corners of Gen- 
esee, Fulton and Hoffman Streets, donated for the pur- 
pose by General John H. Chedell. The design of estab- 
lishing an Episcopal Church in the eastern part of Au- 
burn was conceived in 1854, by Pev. E. H. Cressy, then 
rector of St. Peter's, who laid his project before the 
Pev. Mr. (now Bishop) A. Cleveland Coxe for 
advice. Upon the recommendation of the latter, the 
Pev. John M. Guion came to Auburn with the dis- 
tinct purpose of forming a new parish here, of which 
he should be the rector, relying upon the chaplaincy 
of the Auburn prison, which Dr. Cressy was able to 
obtain for him, for a portion of his support. Pegular 



AUBUKN IN 1869. 479 

religious services had already been commenced in a 
large room, in the second story of the Williams block, 
over what is now Kerr & Devitt's, the rent of which 
was being paid by Dr. Cressy and A. Hamilton Bm-t. 
These services were continued by Dr. Guion for the 
space of five months, when they were relinquished, the 
Doctor being called away to another and more prom- 
ising field of usefu.lness. The ultimate formation of 
the new parish was, however, continually cherished 
by a few of the enterprising spirits of the old congre- 
gation, and has finally been by them secured. The 
first wardens and vestrymen of this church were as 
follows: Harvey Wilson and William Lamey, war- 
dens ; John M. Hurd, George F. Brown, I. L. Scovill, 
Henry Hall, Charles M. Knight, William F. Gibbs, 
Edward C. Marvine, and Rufus Sargent, vestrymen. 
— The Unwersalist Church is a spacious brick edifice, 
standing at the corner of South and Cumpston 
Streets ; it accommodates nine hundred and fifty 
people. Kev. J. G. Bartholomew, Pastor. — The First 
Methodist Churchy situated on South Street, at the 
head of Exchange, is a monument of the most won- 
derful spirit and enterprise ever exhibited by a 
religious society in Auburn. The congregation, after 
worshipping for thirty years in the old stone churcli 
on the corner of North and Water Streets, lost tlieir 
sanctuary by fire. The circimistance was dishearten- 
ing. The church had just been put in tliorongh 



480 HISTOEY OF AUBURN. 

repair, and an old and exhausting burden of debt 
discharged, to meet which the society had been 
obliged to put forth their most active exertions, and 
endure many personal sacrifices. This was in the 
summer of 1867. But by January, 1868, the new 
church site had been purchased, the foundation of the 
church laid thereon, and the session-house finished, 
and made ready for occupancy. A year later, the 
whole edifice was fully completed and consecrated. 
Rev. William Searles, Pastor. — The Wall Street 
Methodist Church stands at the head of Washington 
Street. Eev. S. M. Fisk, Pastor. — The Discvples 
Churchy Pev. Aimer M. Collins, is located on Division 
street, between Seymour and Yan-Anden. St. Al- 
phonsus Churchy (Roman Catholic), is situated on 
Water Street. Rev, Charles A. Yogi, Pastor, The 
Churches of Auburn will seat, when all in process of 
construction are completed, ten thousand people. 

THE SCHOOLS. 

There are five handsomely constructed brick public- 
school buildings in the city, all built, with but one ex- 
ception, on the highlands towards the suburbs. Six- 
teen hundred children are taught in them the ele- 
ments of a good English education, by a corps of thir- 
ty-two teachers, whose qualifications are the subject 
of critical examination before appointment. Each 
school contains a primary, an intermediate, and a 



ADBUKN IN 1869. 481 

senior department, the pupils in each of which are 
classified and pursue a graduated course of studies. 
The scholar is admitted at the age of six ; he gradu- 
ates in seven years to the Free Academy or High 
School, when a four years' course of advanced studies 
is begun. Boys are prepared for college here at the 
end of the third year. The public school libraries of 
the city have recently been consolidated and placed 
in the High School, where all who desire books repair 
on Friday to draw them. The school at the orphan 
asylum is also a free school, and under the care of the 
Board of Education. Xumerons select and private 
educational institutions are also in operation in the 
city, among which may be mentioned the Young La- 
dies' Institute, in the old town hall building, and the 
Roman Catholic school, in the chapel of the church 
of the Holy Family. 

POENTS OF VIEWS. 

Fort Hill and the cupola of the court-house are the 
favorite observatories. From both a wide prospect is 
unfolded to the eye, and the western part of the 
town and the farms outlying appear to the best possi- 
ble advantage. The views from the towers of other 
public buildings have attractive features. But the 
city, from the majority of these points, appears to the 
observer little else than a confusion of steeples, 
house-tops, and trees. Tlie school-house on Fnlton 
29 



482 'HISTORY OF AUBURN. 

Street commands the finest view of tlie citj in Au- 
burn. It is the only point, in fact, from which the 
whole of the city can be seen at once. The course 
of the principal streets may be clearly traced, the creek 
and the mills are all in sight, the public buildings 
appear in an admirable light, and the gaze wanders 
away westward from the city over groves and farms, 
till it rests upon the towering ridges lying back of 
Seneca Lake. A striking view of the position of the 
city on the hills is seen from the road that leads 
north along the top of the west bank of the outlet 
towards Throopsville, at a point about half a mile 
north of the Clark Street road. The observer at this 
point is lower than the city, which appears built 
upon a mountain. From the high hill on the road 
to Skaneateles, two miles east of Auburn, the city 
is seen in quite another, but not less charming aspect, 
appearing to be buried in a valley. These three 
views should be seen by every resident of Auburn 
and every traveler. 

Altitude of the east hill of Auburn above Lake 
Ontario, 475 feet; above tide-water 760 feet ; or 361 
feet higher than the level of the Erie Canal at 
Weedsport. Altitude of the Owasco Lake above 
tide-water, 758 feet. 

NEWSPAPERS. 

Two brisk dailies and five weeklies constitute the 



AUBURN IN 1869. 483 

newspaper press of Anburii ; The Auhurn Daily 
Admrtiser ( Eepublican ), established in the proprie- 
torship of O. F. Kiiapp and George W. Peck, in 1850 ; 
George W. Peck, senior, andCharles A. Canlkins, city 
editors. — The Auburn Morning JSTews {'Re^.)^ an out- 
spoken, vigorous sheet, established in July, 1868, by 
Dennis Pro's & Co., and conducted by William II. 
Barnes, senior, Charles A. Warden, city, and The- 
odore H. Schenck, literary editor. — TheAuhmi Week- 
ly Democrat ( Dem.), published and edited by Charles 
F. Durston & Co., at the printing establishment of Wil- 
liam J. Moses. Begun in 1857 by Stone & Hawes ; 
discontinued in 1862 ; revived in September, 1868. 
The Auhurn Journal and Weekly Union, printed by 
Ivnapp & Peek. The Auhtirn Weekly JVews, by Dennis 
Bro's & Co.— The Northern Christian Advocate, a re- 
ligious weekly published under the auspices of the 
Methodist Episcopal General Conference by William 
J. Moses. Kev. D. D. Lore, D. D., editor. — Tlie 
Northern Independent, weekly, also a Methodist 
sheet, edited and published by the Kev. William Hos- 
mer. To these may be added the Orchestra Peri- 
odical, by Dennis Bro's & Co., and the Orphanh 
Friend, edited by Mrs. James W. Wilkie. 

MANUFACTURES. 

The thrift and past progress of Auburn result quite 
exclusively from our natural advantages of great water- 



484 HISTORY 0¥ AUBUKN. 

power, ill the Owasco Outlet. The city's future pros- 
perity must depend largely upon the perfect develop- 
ment of this power, concerning whose vastness few, 
even at this day, have any adequate idea. 

The outlet is a crooked but rapid stream, with an 
average flow that produces the power of eighteen 
horses for every foot of fall at the dams, of which there 
are ten in the city and suburbs. One hundred and 
sixty-two feet of fall are distributed at these dams, 
about as follows : upper dam 10 feet ; big dam 25 
feet ; Hall & Lewis dam, 10 feet ; prison, 8 feet ; Bar- 
bers, 25 feet ; Nye's, 25 feet : Casey's, 18 feet ; Hay- 
den's, 11 feet ; Wadsworth's, 12 feet ; and Hall's, 20 
feet. The rapids make the total descent, from the up- 
per dam to Hall's, 180 feet. 

The average power of 2,900 horses is available in the 
city for manufacturing purposes ; less than half of this is 
now employed. That which is in use performs the la- 
bor of 6,500 men, though capable of performing twice 
that amount, by running the mills all day, and gives 
labor to about 2,000. The manufactures of the city, 
as a whole, employ 2,500 mechanics and operatives, 
and 900 convicts. 

There are in Auburn 4 mowing-machine works, 5 
agricultural tool works, 4 woolen mills, 4 breweries, 3 
flouring mills, 2 saw mills, 2 plane and plane iron 
manufactories ; 2 sash, blind, and door works ; 7 ma- 
chine-shops, 4 wagon-shops, 5 clothing manufactories. 



AUBURN IN 1869. 485 

2 lime-kilns, 1 paper-bag manulactoiy, 2 carriage hard- 
ware manufactories, 1 cotton-mill, 2 tanneries, 5 shoe 
manufactories, 4 confection aries, 2 cabinet-ware facto- 
ries, 1 leathern glove and mitten factory, 1 laundry- 
machine works, 4 factories of reaper-grinders, 1 wire 
card mill, 1 file works, 3 marble-shops, 5 cigar and to- 
bacco manufactories, 1 candle factory, 1 patent medi- 
cine factory, 4 printing establishments, 2 planing mills, 
and 1 patent corn sheller factory. 

Many of these establishments, which from their mag- 
nitude and importance invite especial attention, are of 
recent origin, and have not been included or mentioned 
in any of the previous chapters of this work. Historical 
and descriptive sketches of the principal manufactories 
are introduced. 

The works of the Auburn Tool Com-pmiy stand on 
the precipitous east bank of the outlet, below the big 
dam, at the water's edge. The character of the ground 
enables the workmen to enter the building through 
the third story. Sixty men are here employed on wa- 
ges exceeding $2,500 per month, in the manufacture of 
planes and plane irons. An additional force of twenty 
is engaged every fall and winter in making skates. 
The best raw material in the market is used at these 
works, and the workmen are fine mechanics ; the pro- 
ductions rank high, therefore, in the United States, 
and are in constant demand. A large lot on the high 
ground above the works, fronting Owasco Street, con- 



486 HISTORY OF AUBUKI^. 

tains the couipauy's otiice and packing room, the drv 
ing house, storage sheds, and himber yard. 

Tlie practical management of the business is en- 
trusted to George Casey & Sons, whose experience as 
tool-makers is now of more than twenty years' stand- 
ing, Mr. Casey began the manufacture of tools in 
the Auburn prison, in 1847, with Josiah Douglass, 
Adam Miller, and George W. Leonard, his partners. 
Through his own mechanical ingenuity the machinery 
of the shop was improved from time to time in many 
valuable particulars ; and his famous invention for 
making the throats in plane blocks by machinery was- 
perfected whije a member of this iirm. The tool con- 
tract was taken, in 1857, by another firm, composed of 
Mr. Casey, Abijah Fitch, l^elson Fitch, Koah P. Clark, 
Josiah M. Stariu, Alonzo G. Beardsle}', and F. L. 
Sheldon, who with others, formed, in 1862 the stock 
company which has since carried on the business. 

The directors of the company are : George Casey, 
president ; Abijah Fitch, A. G. Beardsley, J. 'N. Starin, 
Theodore M. Pomeroy, and K. P. Clark. Nelson Fitch 
is secretary, and Nicholas Casey, treasurer. Francis 
Casey, overseer at the works. The business was trans- 
ferred from the prison to the present buildings in 
1866. 

The celebrated /Steel Tenipering Works of Reynolds, 
Barber & Co. — N. B. Eeynolds, Samuel F. Reynolds, 
C. Eugene Barber, and William C. Barber — occupy 



AUBUEN IN 1869. 487 

two large strong buildings, one of brick, tlie other 
of stone, standing on the west bank of the outlet, 
twenty or thirty rods below the big dam. Here are 
manufactured plane irons and steel knife sections for 
reapers and mowers; the latter being tempered by a 
peculiar process, invented by Asa JR.. Reynolds, Esq. 
This process, after a trial of ten years, has been per- 
fected ; with their new machinery, and the labor of 
forty-five competent mechanics, the proprietors of the 
works are now abJe to produce 3,000 finished sections 
per day. The manufacture of plane irons was com- 
menced as an experiment in 1867, but has since grown 
up into a regular and successful business. 

The Reynolds process of tempering is one of the 
most wonderful inventions of the nineteenth century. 
It is both rapid and simple, yet is based upon a scien- 
tific principle that defies investigation. 

Strong wooden beams sixteen feet in length are sup- 
ported at the ends by the heavy stone side walls of the 
factory, and sustain upon their centers ponderous an- 
vils constructed from the wheel shafts of a large 
steamer. Above the anvils are suspended, by means 
of powerful machinery, 'hammers weighing not less 
than two tons each, and so shaped on the striking sur- 
face, that the blow of the hammers falls only "on the 
cutting edges of the sections, in a strip five-eighths of 
an inch wide ; the upper surface of the anvils being 
shaped to correspond. The sections are laid on the 



488 lIIBTeiKY OF AUBURN. 

anvils red hot ; the hammers fall ; a reactionary blow 
is given by means of the vibrating beam upon vi'^hich 
the anvils rest ; the edges of the section remain in the 
pressure of the cold metals for eight seconds ; the cen- 
tral portion is meanwhile being rapidly cooled by pow- 
erful streams of cold air from two metallic nozzles ; 
the hammer rises, and the section is then removed, 
perfectly tempered, and the operation is renewed with 
another. Six sections may be tempered thus per min- 
ute, and so uniform and reliable is the process, that, oi 
over one thousand tempered and ground in presence of 
the committee appointed at the ^National Implement 
Trial, held in Auburn in 1866, not one was found 
cracked or imperfect, or showed any trace of fissure 
whatever. 

The Auburn Agricultural Wo7^Jcs, situated near the 
last-mentioned factory, on the north, produce, under 
the proprietorship of J. Monroe Alden, Milton Alden, 
and George J. Letchworth, some of the finest imple- 
ments in the country. Alden's thill horse-hoe gained 
the gold medal at Utica, N. Y., in 1866, and the com- 
pany's horse-rake, Hollingworth's patent, was awarded 
a similar medal at the national implement trial in Au- 
burn the same year. The works employ seventy men. 

The mowing machine manufactory of D. M. Osborne 
<& Co., on Genesee Street, corner of "Mechanic, has no 
rival in its department of industry, for size or complete- 
ness of appointment, either in Auburn, or in America. 



AUBURN IK 186». 489 

A vast pile of tall, substantial brick buildings, 
covering an acre and a quarter of ground, constitute 
the work. These buildings are seven in number. In 
the first of these, standing on the corner of the street, 
used as a machine shop prior to occupancy by the 
present proprietors, the business of the firm com- 
menced. The business expanding enormously during 
the five years immediately following 1859, the other 
buildings were erected one after the other, as the 
necessity for more room arose, on the tongue of land 
between Mechanic street and the outlet, once the 
site of certain carding, fulling, and saw mills else- 
where described. The dimensions of the different 
shops, which are severally distinguished by their 
numbers, are as follows: 'No. 1, four stories high, 
sixty-six feet by forty, used as an ofiice and sample 
room, and containing in the second, third, and fourth 
stories the Horning News establishment; No. 2, 
three stories in height, fifty-nine feet by forty-eight, 
used as a wood-shop ; No. 3, containing the store- 
house, paint-shop, and shipping-room, four stories 
and an half high, one hundred and fourteen feet by 
seventy-six ; No, 4, four stories high, with two base- 
ments, one hundred and thirty-eight feet by fifty, used as 
a machine-shop ; No. 5, the blacksmith shop, one story 
high, same ground plan as latter ; No. 6, the malleable 
iron works, one hundred and thirteen feet by ninety ; 
and No., 7, the foundry, one hundred and ninety-two 



490 IlISTOKY OF AL'BURN. 

feet by sixty-six. Tlie lumber yard and drying house 
stand opposite the works on tlie west side of Mechanic 
Street. 

The manufactory of tlie combined reaper and 
mower, invented by William II. Kirby, at Buffalo, in 
1856, was commenced in Auburn in 1858, by David 
M. Osborne and O. S. Ilolbrook, under the firm 
name of Osborne & Ilolbrook, for whom Orrin H, 
Burdick, Esq., made by contract one hundred and fifty 
machines, employing only twelve men in the work. 
Mr. Holbrook parted with his interest in the busi- 
ness in August, 1858, which was then carried on by 
Cyrus C. Dennis, D. M. Osborne, and Charles P. 
Wood, of Auburn, under the style of D. M. Osborne 
& Co. Two hundred mowers were built during 1858. 
The war then broke out, labor became scarce, and the 
demand for mowers great ; and the establishment 
began to be enlarged. Mr. Wood retired from the 
partnership in 1862, and Mr. Dennis, by death, in 
1866. The firm is now composed of D. M. Osborne, 
John H. Osborne, and Orrin H. Burdick. The prod- 
uct of the works during 1868 was fifty-three hundred 
machines. The business now consumes 3,000,000 
pounds of pig iron 'per annum, 500,000 pounds of 
bar iron and steel, and 400,000 feet of lumber. From 
250 to 325 men are employed, who are paid monthly 
between eight and twelve thousand dollargt 

It is the boast of the proprietors of this peerless 



■t^UBUKN IN 1869. 491 

establishment, that every part of their machines,, 
however small, is made at their own works, and 
made well. Outside manufactories have no share 
in the construction of the Kirby, and the public is 
therefore insured against unsound wood work, infe- 
rior knives, and imperfect castings, in these ma- 
chines. The works are complete, a remark, it is be- 
lieved, that can be made of no similar establishment 
in the country. The proprietors contemplate a further 
enlargement of their manufactory tlie coming season 
by erecting several brick three-story stores over the 
outlet, fronting the bridge. 

The works of the celebrated Cayuga Chief Manu- 
facturing Conypany are located by the side of the 
]Sr. y. G. Eailroad track, opposite the State prison.. 
The buildings consist of a spacious, three-story brick 
work-shop, fifty-two feet by two hundred and fifty,, 
with a basement ; a blacksmith-shop, forty feet by 
one hundred; a foundry, one hundred and fifty feet 
by sixty ; and an engine and boiler house ( for the 
machinery of the works is driven by steam power)^ 
and the most advantageously situated with re- 
spect to conveniences for shipping of any in |the 
city. They were erected in 1863-4, and employ two 
hundred hands, whose labor costs the company 
annually the sum of $90,000. 

This business originated in the machine shop of 
the prison in 1861 with Franklin L. Sheldon, Alonzo 



492 HISTOKY OF AUBUKN. 

G. Beardslej, and Gary S. Burtis, acting in partner- 
ship, under the style of Sheldon & Co. ; the firm en- 
gaging in the manufacture of a mower, called the 
" Cayuga Chief," invented by Cyrenus Wheeler, Jr., 
now of this city, and making four hundred machines 
the first year. The firm was changed to Burtis & 
Beardsley in 1863, and the erection of the works 
outside of the prison undertaken. The Cayuga 
Chief was largely manufactured in the new buildings 
during 1865 and ^6Q, and also by certain parties in 
Aurora, as well as by F. L. Sheldon, C. Eugene 
Barber, Henry Morgan, Calvin Young, and Charles 
L. Sheldon in the prison. The manufacturing com- 
pany was formed in 186Y, with a capital of $400,000, 
the directors being Cyrenus Wheeler, Jr., president ; 
Alonzo G. Beardsley, treasurer ; William Hills, 
Secretary ; Cary S. Burtis, and Henry Morgan. 

The annual product of the works is now upwards 
of four thousand machines, which are being exten- 
sively used in every grain-growing region of the 
United States. The annual consumption of iron 
and steel is 2,800,000 pounds ; of lumber, 500,000 
feet. 

The establishment of the Dodge c& Stevenson 
Manufacturing Oompa/ny consists of seven commo- 
dious brick buildings, conveniently arranged, be- 
tween Owasco Outlet and the I^. Y. C. Railroad 
track, with dimensions as follows : The main build- 



AUBUKN IN 1869. _ 493 

ing, a stout structure three stories high with a base- 
ment, one hundred and fifty feet by forty, stand- 
ing with the gable to the road ; the foundry adjoin- 
ing in the rear, forty-five feet by one hundred and 
seventy ; the blacksmith shop, one hundred and fifty 
feet long ; and three ample store-houses, two hun- 
dred feet long. A smaller building is the " extra'' 
department. The process of manufacture at these 
works does not diflfer substantially from that at the 
other factories in the city, save as it is distinguished 
by remarkable system. The castings called into 
existence at the foundry, being first well rubbed of 
the sand, and polished by vigorous attrition in re- 
volving iron cylinders, travel through the main 
buildings, and pass from room to room, till com- 
pletely smoothed, drilled, turned, and set up, they 
arrive with the wood work in the paint shop in the 
upper story, where they are finished and prepared 
for market. In busy seasons one hundred machines 
are made a week. The works employ two hundred 
and sixty workmen, who receive monthly wages 
to the amount of $12,000. 

The foundation of this business was laid in the 
Auburn prison in 1858, by Messrs. John A. Dodge, 
Elmore P. Ross, and Col. Charles "W. Pomeroy, 
who began with twenty-five convicts the manufac- 
ture of agricultural implements, among which was 
a mowing machine of C. Wheeler, Jr.'s, invention. 



4'94 HISTORY OF AUBUKN. 

Thirty machines Avere made in 1858. A different 
•machine was made the following year, and that 
branch of the business became so profitable that 
all else was dropped. The mowing machine at 
once engrossed the whole attention of the firm. The 
number manufactured annually increased, and in 
1864 the business, at that time and since 1861 
being prosecuted by Col. Dodge, John Stevenson, 
and Jacob Polhemus, was transferred to the build- 
ings then newly erected by Josiah Barber, in which 
it has since augmented to an extraordinary extent. 
The same year, the firm began the construction and 
sale of the Dodge Harvester, a very popular machine 
invented by Col. Dodge, making five hundred the 
first season. In March, 1866, the business passed 
into the ownership of a stock company, called 
the Dodge & Stevenson Manufacturing Company, 
having a capital of $250,000, which was increased 
in the fall of 1868 to $500,000. Col. John A. 
Dodge was elected president of the company. 

The mills of the veteran woolen manufacturer, 
Josiah Barber and Williaoii G. and George E. Bar- 
ber, his sons, occupy the property on which was 
formerly built the saw and carding mills of Samuel 
Dill, Josiah Barber began the manufacture of 
carpets in the weave shop of the Auburn prison in 
1832, in company witli the experienced mechanic, 
John Loudon, and with whom he remained in part- 



AUBURN IN 1869. 4:95 

uersliip for several years. In 1840, Mr. Barber 
bought the dam which bears his name, with a large 
tract of the contiguous lands, from a land company 
that had suffered severely by the overspeculation and 
panic of 1836-7, and built thereon a woolen mill, 
which he rented from time to time to different firms, 
among which were JSTehemiah D. Carhart & Co., 
and Barber, Dennis & Co., and wdiich he finally 
entered himself, and operated with his sons. The 
establishment comprises two extensive four -story 
brick buildings, termed respectively the north and 
south mills, and a large dye-house. Upon the rear 
of the south mill a fine edifice is now being built 
for the manufacture of the " clover leaf" plane-irons 
of Reynolds, Barber & Co., and upon the grounds 
north of the north mill another is being prepared 
for the use of parties making patent grinders for 
sharpening reaper knives, and Brinkerhoff's corn- 
shellers. The woolen mill requires the work of about 
275 hands. The monthly pay-roll amounts to $5,000. 
It is a sixteen-sett mill, eight setts making carpets, 
and eight flannels, tweeds and plain cassimeres ; 
23,000 yards of the latter are produced per month, 
and about 10,000 yards of three-ply and ingrain 
carpets. The raw material is bought in the West 
and South. 

The Aubi(,rn Cotton Mill^ which was l)urnt to the 
ground on the first day of April, 1869, was at the time 



496. HISTORY OF AUBURN. • 

of the fire being conducted by C. M. Howlett and Jo- 
si ah P. Bailey. The mill stood at the head of a deep 
and picturesque ravine, through which the Owasco 
takes its course northward for miles, and on its very 
verge, and was a massive stone building four stories 
high. Three sets of hands were required to run the 
mill, which was in operation da.y and night. Seventy- 
five were employed, and paid monthly about $1,500. 
The product of the factory was seamless bags exclu- 
sively ; the average result of a month's work was 20,000 
bags, the average consumption of cotton in the same time 
25,000 pounds. The goods were the best in the coun- 
try, and were sold by the J. M. Hurd Paper Bag Com- 
pany, of Auburn. 

The agricultural tool works of the E. C. TuUle Manu- 

CD 

facturing Corrvpcmy are located in the future 7th Ward 
of Auburn, on the west side of Division Street, corner 
of Clark. The two large brick buildings that compose 
the works were begun in June, 186Y, and finished, at 
a cost of over $120,000, in January, 1868, at whicli 
date business commenced. 

The company was organized in the early part of 1867, 
with a capital of $300,000, and the following officers : 
Charles P. Wood, president ; Israel F. Terrill, vice- 
president ; Delos M. Keeler, secretary and treasurer ; 
James Henderson, agent ; and E. C. Tuttle, superin- 
tendent. The business expands every year, and now 
engages sixty workmen, at a monthly salary of $4,000. 



AUBURN IN '1869. 497 

Hoes, rakes, spading-forks, piteh-forks, potato-hooks, 
and scythes, are produced at the rate of one hundred 
dozen per day ; the wooden handles of the tools are 
made in the company's factory at Honeoye. The goods 
are durable and highly finished. They sell extensively 
in Europe and Australia, as well as in America. 

The present management of the company's aifairs is 
in the hands of directors, elected January 18th, 1869, 
namely : Charles P. Wood, I. F. Terrill, S. L. Bradley, 
George W. Leonard, Albert H. Goss, H. J. Sartwell, 
Lorenzo W. ~Hje, E. C. Tuttle, and Kichard C. Steel. 

The woolen mill of William Hayden and Richard 
T. Morgan, acting under the firm name of William 
Hayden & Co., stands at the east end of a dam that 
was built in 1862, on the site of the original log-dam 
of Jehiel Clark. A mill was erected in 1810, for card- 
ing and custom weaving, which was rented in 1815 to 
William Hayden, the first manufacturer of woolen 
goods by machinery in Cayuga County. The old mill 
was torn down in 1866, and replaced with a three-story 
stone and brick building, thirty-five feet by seventy- 
five. The new mill is rented to William Hayden, who 
is the son of Mr. Clarke's lessee, and Mr. Morgan. 
The business gives employment to twenty-five hands, 
consumes 65,000 pounds of wool annually, and pro- 
duces about the same number of yards of woolen goods. 
The mill contains the largest two spinning-jacks in the 
county, having each two hundred and sixty-four spindles. 
30 



4:98 HISTOKY OF A.UBURN. 

The Scythe Works of David Wadsworth and Kelson 
Fitch are situated on the east bank of the outlet, 
below Hayden's, on the site of an old trip-hammer and 
forge-shop, once owned by Eldridge & Murphy. 

The business of this firm originated in the year 
1818, in a httle machine-shop that stood on the 
ground now occupied by the Dodge & Stephenson 
mowing-machine works. Joseph Wadsworth, father 
of David WadsM^orth, was the manufacturer here of 
scythes and axes, one thousand dozen of which was 
the annual production. The business was transferred 
to Clarksville in 1833. The new works are fine 
stone buildings arranged on three sides of a hollow 
square, which have been erected since 1860. They 
employ forty-five workmen at monthly wages of 
$3,000 ; the amount of capital required in the busi- 
ness is $100,000 ; the product of the works, about 
forty-five dozen of scythes and hay and corn knives 
per day. 

The manufactory of Patent Grinders for sharpen- 
ing reaper knives is one of recent establishment, but 
bids fair to soon attain considerable importance. 
Prior to the fall of 1868, there were three patent 
grinder companies in Auburn, namely : the Stejphen- 
son Manufacturing Company , of which William C. 
Barber w^as president ; James D. Button, vice-presi- 
dent ; E.G. Knight, treasurer ; and William P. 
Robinson, secretary ; which w^as making a harvester 



AUBURN IN 18ft9. 499 

cutter sharpener, invented by William H. Stevenson, 
of this city, the salesrooms of the company being 
at No. 49, in the Curtis buildings. State Street ; — 
Bichardsmi <& Co.^ a firm composed of Henry Rich- 
ardson and Bradley A. Tuttle, manufacturers of 
Scott's Patent Grinders, office No. 77 State Street ; — 
and Hoagland, Pedbody <&■ Co., who were selling 
Hoagland's improved machine for grinding mower 
and reaper knives. The three companies consoli- 
dated in September, 1868, adopting the style of the 
Fa/nners' Mcmufacturing Company, and organized 
with a capital of $100,000, and the following officers : 
William C. Barber, president ; Josiah Y. Hoagland, 
vice-president ; Horace L. Knight, secretary and 
treasm-er ; and Charles Richardson, superintendent. 
The farmers' grinder will be manufactured the 
coming season in the new works now being erected 
adjacent to Barber's woolen mills. 

The Hussey combined patent reaper and mower 
manufactory, started near the big dam, is another of 
the peculiar institutions of Auburn. The proprietors 
are Thomas R. Hussey and Isaac W. Quick. The 
works employ some forty or fifty men, and produce 
a machine that is undoubtedly the best grass, grain, 
and clover harvester in use. 

Barber, Sheldon S Co.,{C. Eugene Barber, Frank- 
lin L. Sheldon, Charles L. Sheldon, and Henry 
Morgan) have in the machine-shop of the Auburn 



500 HISTOKY OF AUBURN. 

prison the largest manufactory of fine iron and steel 
axles in the world. The firm commenced business 
in the fall of 1865, and now employs one hundred 
men. The factory is "extensive and complete, con- 
taining four trip hammers, fifty lathes, fom- boring 
machines, and drills and planes innumerable. There 
are daily produced one hundred sets of the anchor 
brand axle for carriages, coaches, stages, and express 
wagons, which find a ready market in every part of 
the United States, from Maine to California, and 
are now beginning to be demanded in foreign lands. 
The business consumes 650 tons of fine grade iron 
and steel, 150 tons of fine grade cast iron for boxes, 
8 tons of malleable iron, and an immense quantity 
of leather for washers, annually. The process of 
manufacture is peculiar and interesting ; it is cheer- 
fully shown to visitors by the courteous proprietors 
of the works. 

Manufacturing is now employing more men and more 
capital than all other branches of business in Auburn 
combined. It scatters among the working classes 
annually the sum of $1,500,000 for wages alone, 
while, for stock and machinery, it makes use of 
$3,000,000 and upwards in the same time. It fur- 
nishes the means of support to eight thousand souls, 
or to more than one-half of our population. It con- 
sumes annually the following vast amount of raw 
material: 1,565,000 pounds of wool, 300,000 pounds 



I 



AUBUKN IN 1869, 501 

of cotton, 15,000,000 pounds of pig and bar iron 
and steel, 3,000 tons of coal, 350,000 bushels of 
grain, and several million feet of lumber. A better 
idea of the vastness of our manufactures will be 
obtained by the following carefully compiled table 
of the market values of articles made here during 
the ye^r 1868 : 

Mowing Machines, $2,470,000 

Illuminating Gas, 40,000 

Ale and Beer, 60,000 

Agricultural Tools and Implements, 310,000 

Woolen Goods, 1,418,000 

Planes, , 175,000 

Sash, Blinds, and Doors, 40,000 

Iron and Steel Axles, 180,000 

Machinery and Castings, 60,000 

Carriages and Sleighs, 40,000 

Gent's Clothing 170,000 

Cabinet Ware, 65,000 

Carriage Hardware, 115,000 

Cotton Goods, 130,000 

Flour,... 750,000 

Confectionery, Pastry, etc., 110,000 

Paper Bags, 100,000 

Tobacco and Cigars, 80,000 

Lime,.. 13,000 

Leather, 10,000 

Leather Gloves and Mittens, 30,000 

Laundry Machmes, 20,000 

Mowing Machine Knife-Sections, 40,000 

Reaper Grinders, 65,000 

Files, 40,000 



602 HISTORY OF AUBURN, 

Machine Cards, , 40,000 

Harness and Trunks, 13,000 

Boots and Shoes, 275,000 

Tin Ware, 20,000 

Marble Monuments, Grave-Stones, etc., . . . 18,000 
and other articles of lesser value, which will make the 
aggregate value of all goods manufactured in the city 
during the year mentioned upwards of six millions 
nine hundred thousand dollars. 

A comparison of the results of last year with the 
total product of the manufactures of the city in 1835^ 
which was valued at less than a million and a half, 
and with the total value of the manufactures of Cayuga 
County ten years ago, which was less than three mil- 
lions and a half, will show the wonderful recent growth 
of mechanical pursuits in Auburn. 

POPULATION. 

The census of 1865 rated the population of our city 
at twelve thousand five hundred and sixty-seven ; by a 
careful calculation of the accessions to the population 
since that time, it appears that Auburn now contains 
fifteen thousand inhabitants, exclusive of the inmates 
of the prison. The foreign element is strong here, the 
manufactures attracting large numbers of Germans and 
Irishmen, of whom together there are about six thou- 
sand souls. 

What the people do is a question readily answered. 
Eighteen of our residents are clergymen, 38 lawyers, 



AUBUKN IN 1869. 503 

27 physicians, 35 teachers, 65 manufacturers, 85 bank- 
ei-s and capitalists, 200 retail dealers, 203 clerks, 190 
carpenters and cabinet-makers, 108 printers, 74 masons, 
stone-cutters, and quarry-men, 35 produce dealers, 42 
shoemakers, 55 blacksmiths, 2,130 mechanics and 
workmen, 450 operatives, girls and boys, and 300 sew- 
ing women. 

THE CLIMATE. 

The climate of Auburn is in no great respect dissim- 
ilar to that which is common to all parts of Western 
Kew York. The winds prevail from the north and 
west ; these bring cool, clear weather, but are generally 
preceded by heavy storms. The south winds are wet 
and chilling. The average yearly rain fall is exactly 
that of the temperate zone the world round, 35.60 
inches. The maximum fall is 50 inches ; the mini- 
mum, 21. The temperature of the atmosphere varies 
from 24 deg. below zero, to the extreme of 100 deg, 
above, passing over an annual range of 124 deg. The 
average temperature is 46 deg. 99 min., or 30 min. 
warmer than the average of the State ; sudden and se- 
vere changes are not uncommon, the thermometer indi- 
cating often a difference of thirty degrees in twelve 
hours. The average time from the blossoming of the 
apple-tree to the first killing frost is said to be about 
one hundred and seventy-five days. 

The health of the city is remarkable, Notwitlistand- 



504: HISTOKY UF AlBUKN. /» 

iiig the original wetness of the territory on which Au- 
burn stands, arising from the numberless springs to 
wliicli the hills give birth, and the lowness of lands 
along the outlet, the city has never been visited by any 
contagious or epidemic disease whatever, for over fifty 
years. The cholera has raged repeatedly in the State, 
on all sides of us, but has never once visited the city. 
Indeed, in 1832, Auburn was the asylum of terror- 
stricken people from districts infected by the famous 
pestilence of that year. The average number of deaths, 
annually, to the number of the living, is one to ninety- 
eight. The mortality is the greatest in the spring, the 
least in the winter. Diseases spring in the gre^atest 
measure from the changes of the weather, the damp- 
ness of the atmosphere, and from careless exposure. 
Out of every hundred deaths, 7 rise from diseases of 
the heart, 9 from diseases of the brain, 14 from fevers, 
15 from affections of the bow^els, and 55 from consump- 
tion and diseases of the throat and lungs. 

The morality of Auburn is the subject of universal 
remark. We are absolutely without a lawless element 
in our population, and open wickedness is a thing- 
that we are happily free from. The existence of nu- 
merous and powerful temperance and benevolent socie- 
ties in the town i)romotes good order in no small 
degree. 

In point of healthy and rational amusements we are 
not deficient. The neighborhood of beautiful lakes, 



AUBUKN IN 1869. 505 

whose waters teem with delicious fish, and which are 
surrounded by the most inspiring scenery, afibrds the 
unfailing means of relaxation and pleasure. The 
woods are full of game, the roads are good in summer 
and winter, and invite to riding and sleighing parties, 
and the ponds at the last-named season call the city out 
a skating. Two fine, large concert -halls are constantly 
in use, and the night without an entertainment at one 
or both is an exception to the rule. 

Conclusion. — -These hasty sketches of Auburn in 
1869, are given with the hope that they will afford to 
the reader " a view of the thing.'' The statistics they 
contain cannot fail to be matters of interest to resi- 
dents, and of the utmost importance to future settlers. 
They tell more eloquently than words the present con- 
dition of our city, the character of our business and 
people, and the desirableness of a residence in our 
midst. 

The past and the present have thus been laid before 
the reader in a plain and, it is to be hoped, a satisfac- 
tory way. The future alone remains to be told. But 
this is the province of the prophet, and not of the his- 
torian. Our duty is already discharged. We cannot, 
however, resist the desire to answer a secret fear which 
some of our citizens have entertained, that our city has 
at last attained its growth. Nothing could be more 
absurd than this fear. 

Auburn, indeed, has no mines, and little commerce, 



506 HISTORY OF AUBUBN. 

and the local business afforded by the neighboring 
towns, though a powerful auxiliary to growth, will not 
probably make any larger additions to our fifteen thou- 
sand inhabitants. The question of future growth and 
importance hangs, therefore, principally on the develop- 
ment of our water-power, and tjie employment of the 
people in the mills. But this water-power is now no 
more than half developed, and that half is in use less 
than half the time. It is possible to employ in the 
business of manufacturing four times the number of 
men that are so employed at present. 

The reduction in the cost of living; and the stimulus 
to enterprise which the completion of the Southern 
Central Railroad will effect, and the strength to be im- 
parted to the city by the passage of a bill, now pend- 
ing in the Legislature, to enlarge its territory by annex- 
ing a tract to the western border half a mile in widthy 
must also be taken into account. An indication of the 
growth of last year was the erection of over one hun- 
dred and eighty new buildings ; an indication of our 
prospects in the future is the fact that the erection of 
nearly two hundred more the present season is intende(^. 
There is no apparent reason why Auburn should halt 
in her progress till her population should exceed fifty 
thousand, nor why that result should not be attained 
within twenty years. 



CIVIL LIST. 



SOT 



CHAPTER IX. 

CIVIL LIST OF AUBURN AND CAYUGA COUNTY. 

TRUSTEES OF AUBURN, 

The Act of the Legislature incorporating the village 
of Auburn, passed April 18th, 1815, provided for the 
annual election of five trustees of the village, and a 
Clerk to record their proceedings; said trustees to 
elect a president from their own number. Owing to 
the fact that the Board of Trustees had no regular 
place of meeting, and that no systematic record of 
their proceedings was kept for many years, it has been 
nearly or quite impossible to obtain a complete list of 
the village officers previous to 1835. 

1835.— Michael S. Myers, President ; Jesse Willard, Charles W^ 
Pomeroy, Bradley Tuttle, John H. Chedell, Trustees ; Daniel An- 
drus, Clerk. 

March 9th, 1836, the village charter was so amended 
as to divide the village into four wards, and to provide 
for the election of two trustees from each ward, and 
a president exclusive ; the time of holding the annual 
election was changed to the first Tuesday of April. 

1836.— Isaac S. Miller, President ; Isaac Selover, George Casey^ 
Henry Polhemus, Warren T. Worden, John H. Chedell, Rohert 
Cook, Bradley Tuttle, John B. Dill, Trustees; Daniel Andrus^ 



508 HISTORY OP^ AUBURN. 

Clerk. 1887. — Robert Muir, President ; Henry Polhemus, Warren 
T. Worden, Thomas F. Munroe, John Hepburn, John H. Chedell, 
Stephen A. Goodwin, Ira Hopkins, Henry Ivison, Jr., Trustees ; 
Peter H. Myers, Clerk. 1838.— John. H. Beach, President; Ne- 
hemiah D. Carhart, Ebenezer B. Cobb, Peter G. Fosdick, 
Thomas F. Munroe, George C. Skinner, Daniel D. Thomas, George 
H. Wood, Daniel Hewson, Trustees; William Fosgate, Clerk. 
1839. — Allen Warden, President ; Nehemiah D. Carhart, Thomas 
F. Munroe, Martin Smith, Amos Gould, Daniel Hewson, Edward 
E. Marvine, William H. Van Tuyl, John Loudon, Trustees ; Fred- 
eric Prince, Clerk. 1840. — Cyrus C. Dennis, President; Emory 
Osborne, Satterlee Warden, Martin Smith, George O. Murfey, Ed- 
ward E. Marvine, John L. Watrous, George B. Chase, John Hep- 
burn, Trustees; Frederic Prince, Clerk. 1841. — Cyrus C. Dennis, 
President ; James Willson, Avery Babbitt, Martin Smith, Joshua 
Burt, Ira Curtis, William C. Beardsley, George B. Chase, William 
H. Van Tuyl, Trustees ; Frederic Prince, Clerk. 1842.— Cyrus C. 
Dennis, President; Emory Osborne, Elisha Miller, William 
Woods, William P. Smith, Daniel Hewson, John Morrison, Philo 
Halliday, Daniel Woodworth, Trustees; Jacob R. How, Clerk. 
1843. — John L. Watrous, President; Gilbert C. Milligan, Gerritt 
N. Orton, John Knapp, John B. Gaylord, Walter G. Simpson, 
James E. Tyler, Chester Fanning, David Foot, Trustees ; Jacob 
-R. How, Clerk. 1844. — George B. Chase, President; George 
Casey, George B. Markham, Josiah Douglass, Horace L. Knight, 
Sherman Beardsley, William Osborne, Lawrence White, William 
H. Van Tuyl, Trustees ; Jacob R. How, Clerk. 1845.— George B. 
Chase, President; George B. Markham, Edward N. Kitchell, 
Adam Miller, Alexander Hamilton Burt, John P. Hulbert, John 
Curtis, Matthew Sittser, Lewis Walker, Trustees : Jacob R. How, 
Clerk. 1846. — Ethan A. Warden, President ; Nehemiah D. Car- 
hart, James Congdon, Josiah Sherwood, Zebina M. Mason, Benja- 
min P. Hall, Harrison S. Dickinson, David Mills, E. P. Williams, 
Trustees ; Jacob R. How, Clerk. 1847. — Daniel Hewson, Presi- 



CIVIL LIST. 



5ot 



dent; Chauncey W. Markham, Joseph Morris, Josiah Sherwood, 
Zebina M. Mason, Rowland F. Russell, Andrew V. M. Suydam^ 
Theron Green, Daniel Woodworth, Trustees; Theodore M. 
Pomeroy, Clerk. 

Auburn was incorporated as a city March 21st, 1848^ 
upon petition of the village trustees. The administra- 
tion thenceforward consisted of a mayor and common 
council, the latter composed of eight aldermen, two 
from each ward. The election of these officers is held 
upon the Tuesday next after the first Monday of March. 

1848.— Mayor : Cyrus C. Dennis. Clerk : Theodore M. Pome- 
roy. Aldermen: Shubael Cottle, Joseph Morris, Joshua Burt, 
Charles F. Coffin, Edward Barber, John B. Gaylord, Stephen S. 
Austin, Wheaton Sanders. 

1849.— Mayor: Daniel Hewson. Clerk: Theodore M. Pome- 
roy. Aldermen : Stephen S. Austin, Edward Barber, Charles F. 
Coflln, Shubael Cottle, James Mclntyre, Robert Nisbet, Jesse Se- 
goine, Lewis E. Carpenter. 

1850.— Mayor : Aurelian Conklm. Clerk : Theodore M. Pomer 
roy. Aldermen: Lewis E. Carpenter, James Mclntyre, Robert 
Nisbet, James V. Bowen, Joshua Burt, William H. Foster, Row- 
land F. Russell, Ebenezer Allen. 

1851.— Mayor : Aurelian Conklin. Clerk : William F. Segoine. 
Aldermen : Joshua Burt, James T. Bowen, Rowland F. Russell,. 
Ethan Allen, J. V. Palmer, Silas L. Bradley, John Manrow, Jesse 
S. Eggleston. 

1852.— Mayor: Benjamin F.Hall. Clerk: Frederic Prmce. Al- 
dermen : Silas L. Bradley, J. Y. Palmer, Charles Wheaton, George 
B. Markham, Aretas A. Sabin, John Curtis, Rowland F. Russell^ 
Daniel C. Goodrich. 

1853.— Mayor : Thomas Y. Howe, Jr. Clerk : Frederic Prince. 
Aldermen : Rowland F. Russell, Daniel C. Goodrich, George B. 



510 HISTORY OF AUBURN. 

Markham, Henry G. Ellsworth, Philip R. Freeoff, Lyman O. Sher- 
wood, Daniel W. Thorpe, John Curtis. 

1854. — Mayors : * George Underwood and Joshua Burt. Clerk : 
Frederic Prince. Aldermen : John Curtis, Philip R. Freeoff, Dan- 
iel W. Thorpe, Nehemiah D. Carhart, Lewis Paddock, Isaac Lewis, 
William Shapcott, David Madden. 

1855. — Mayor: John L. "Watrous. Clerk: Frederic Prince. Al- 
dermen : David Madden, Walter J. Simpson, John Curtis, Monroe 
Hamlin, Sylvanus H. Henry, Daniel W. Thorpe, Isaac Lewis, 
William Shapcott. 

1856. — Mayor: Sylvanus H. Henry. Clerk: Frederic Prince. 
Aldermen: John Curtis, Monroe Hamlin, Daniel W. Thorpe, 
Adam Miller, Samuel Smith, Eli Gallup, Erastus Case, Charles H. 
Garlock. 

1857. — Mayor : Lansingh Briggs. Clerk : James Seymour. Alder- 
men : Eli Gallup, Samuel Smith, Adam Miller, Charles H Garlock, 
Watson B. Lynch, Jacob S. Gray, David P. Greeno, Erastus Case. 

1858. — Mayor : Lansingh Briggs. Clerk : Theodore H. Schenck. 
Aldermen: Charles H. Garlock, Watson B. Lynch, David P. 
Greeno, Jacob S. Gray, Henry Lewis, Lovell H. Baldwin, George 
I. Post, Stephen S. Austin. 

1859. — Mayor: Lansingh Briggs. Clerk: Theodore H. Schenck. 
Aldermen: Henry Lewis, Thomas McCrea, Lovell H. Baldwin, 
Jacob S. Gray, Charles H. Garlock, George I. Post, Stephen S. 
Austin, James E. Tyler. 

1860. — Mayor : Christopher Morgan. Clerk : Amasa B. Ham- 
lin. Aldermen : Josiah Y. Hoaglan, Albert H. Goss, Charles G. 
Briggs, Eli Gallup, Charles H. Garlock, Jacob S. Gray, Thomas 
McCrea,James E. Tyler. 

1861.— Mayor: George Humphreys. Clerk: William H. Mea- 
ker. Aldermen : David H. Schoonmaker, Charles Bemis, William 

* George Underwood having resigned the office of Mayor before the expira- 
tion of his term, Joshua Burt was chosen at a special election to fill the ra- 
cancy. 



CIVIL LIST. 511 

H. Kelsey, Eli Gallup, William Johnson, Thomas McCrea, John 
S. Fowler, Charles G. Briggs. 

1863.— Mayor : George Humphreys. Clerk : Amasa B. Hamlin. 
Aldermen : James Tibbels, John S. Fowler, Charles G. Briggs, 
Eli Gallup, Charles Bemis, William H. Kelsey, David H. Schoon- 
maker, William Johnson. 

1863. — Mayor ; Jonas White, Jr. Clerk : Charles E. Cootes. 
Aldermen : Henry Lewis, William H. Kelsey, William Johnson, 
Charles G. Briggs, Edward C. Hall, John S. Fowler, Eli Gallup, 
James Tibbels. 

1864.— Mayor : Charles G. Briggs. Clerk : Charles F. Duraton. 
Aldermen : James Tibbels, John S. Fowler, Charles A. Warden, 
Eli Gallup, Henry Lewis, Edward C. Hall, William H. Kelsey 
William Johnson. 

1865. — Mayor: George Humphreys. Clerk: Daniel O. Sullivan. 
Aldermen : Edward C. Selover, Morris M. Olmsted, Andrew W. 
Johnson, Elbridge G. Miles, Eli Gallup, Daniel W. Thorpe, John 
S. Fowler, Charles A. Warden. 

1866. — Mayor : John S. Fowler. Clerk : James Lyon. Alder- 
men : Edward C. Selover, Emory Osborne, Andrew W. Johnson, 
Dorr Hamlin, John Choate, John S. Brown, Eli Gallup, Daniel W. 
Thorpe. 

1867. — Mayor : John S. Fowler. Clerk : James Lyon. Alder- 
men : John S. Brown, John Choate, Eli Gallup, Dorr Hamlin, 
John M. Hurd, Andrew W. Johnson, Emory Osborne, Luther S. 
Goodrich. 

1868.— Mayor : James E. Tyler. Clerk : Albert L. Sisson. Al- 
dermen : John M. Hurd, Joseph Osborne, Dorr Hamlin, Andrew 
W. Johnson, John S. Brown, John Choate, Luther S. Goodrich, 
Eli Gallup. * -^ 

1869.— Mayor : John M. Hurd. Clerk : Sereno E. Payne. Al- 
dermen: George Bench, Joseph Osborne, Dorr Hamlin, E. D. 
Woodruff, John S. Brown, John Choate, Luther Goodrich, Eli P. 
Babcock. 



612 HISTORY OF AUJiUKJSr. 

postmastk;k8. 

A Post Office was established at Auburn by the 
General Government in the year 1800. 

Dr. Samuel Crossett, 1800-9 ; Enos B. Tkroop, 1809-15 ; George 
B. Throop, 1815-33 ; Hiram Bostwick, 1838-37 ; George Ratlibun, 
1837-41; William C. Beardsley, 1841-45; Amos S. Rathbun, 
1845-47: Michael S. Myers, 1847-49; Ethan A. Warden, 1849-55; 
Elmore P. Ross, 1855-57 ; Charles W. Pomeroy, 1857-61 ; Wil- 
liam Allen, 1861-69 ; Clinton D. McDougall, 1869. 

SUPERVISOES. 

Inasmuch as the town of Auburn was not set oif 
until March, 1823, the list of the supervisors of Au- 
relius, in which it was included, is given up to that 
date. Supervisors are chosen annually at the spring 
elections. 

Elijah Price, 1796-97 ; Joseph Grover, 1797-1801 ; John L. Har- 
denbm-gh, 1801-03 ; John Grover, 180^- 08 ; John Grover, Jr., 
1803-07; John Grover, 1807-10; William C.Bennett, 1810-14; Na- 
thaniel Garrow, 1814-15 ; William C. Bennett, 1815-18; Nathaniel 
Wisner, 1818-20 ; William C. Bennett, 1830-32 ; David Brinker- 
hoff, 1822-23; John Grover, 1823-24; Elijah Miller, 1824r-26 ; 
Lyman Payne, 1836-29 ; Nathaniel Garrow, 1829-32; George B. 
Throop, 1832-34; John Richardson, 1834-35; George Rathbun, 
1835-56: Nathaniel Garrow, 1835-37; Isaac S. Miller, 1837-38 , • 
Henry Polhemus, 1838-40; John Richardson, 1840-43 ; Stephen 
S. Robinson, 1843-44; Henry Ivison, Jr., 1844^5; Ira Hopkins, 
1845-46 ; Henry lyison, Jr., 1846-47; William Beach, 1847. 

The city charter, granted March 21st, 1846, divided 
Auburn into four wards, and provided for the annual 
election of a supervisor from each. 
P 1848. — John Richardson, John Olmsted, Josiah M. Starin, Wil- 



cniL LIST. 513 

liam Beach. 1849.— Emory Osborne, John Olmsted, George Un- 
derwood, WilHam Beach. 1850.— Emory Osborne, John Olmsted, 
George Underwood, Elisha K. Fanning. 1851.— Emory Osborne, 
Daniel Hewson, William How, Lansingh Briggs. 1853.— Adam 
Miller, Henry Underwood, "V\'illiam How, Terence J. Kennedy. 
1853.— Adam Miller, Henry Underwood, Charles T. Ferris, John 
S. Clary. 1854.— Adam Miller, Henry Underwood, Charles T. 
Ferris, John S. Claiy. 1855.— Silas W. Arnett, John A. Dodge, 
Charles N. Tuttle, C. S. Trowbridge. 1856.— Harvey Wilson, 
Charles C. Dwight, David L. Dodge, C. S. Trowbridge. 1857.— 
Delos M. Keeler, Charles C. Dwight, Charles G. Briggs, Stephen 
S. Austin. 1858.— Adam Miller, Charles C. Dwight, Charles G. 
Briggs, Samuel Lockwood. 1859. — Adam Miller, John Olmsted, 
William Hills, Samuel Lockwood. I860.— Adam Miller, C. W. 
Boyce, Wm. Miller, C. Eugene Barber. 1861. — Adam Miller, 
Wm. P. Robinson, William E. Hughitt, C. Eugene Barber. 1863. 
—Adam Miller, Wm. P. Robinson, Wm. E. Hughitt, C. Eugene 
Barber. 1863. — Adam Miller, Daniel Hewson, Wm. J. Moses, 
Myron Cowell. 1864. — Adam Miller, Daniel Hewson, Wm. J. 
Moses, Myron Cowell. 1865. — John M. Hurd, Daniel Hewson, 
E. A. Thomas, Myron Cowell. 1866.— John M. Hurd, Daniel 
Hewson, E. A. Thomas, David W. Barnes. 1867.— E. C. Selover, 
Daniel Hewson, John T. Baker, David W. Barnes. 1868.— Rol- 
lin Tracey, Richard C. Steel, John T. Baker, Gordon S. Fanning, 
1869.— Rollm Tracey, Richard C. Steel, John T. Baker, Gordon S. 
Fanning. 

INSPECTOBS OF AUBUKN PRISON. 

The first Board of Inspectors of the Auburn Prison 
was appointed by law April 20th, 1818. By an act of 
the Legislature, passed April 2d, 1819, the Governor 
and the Council of Appointment were authorized to 
appoint the inspectors. The power of appointment 
81 



514 HISTOKY OF AUBDR^^ 

was vested in the Governor and Senate April lOtli, 1823 
Inasmuch as the Ins]>ectors of State prisons have been 
chosen from the State at large since the revision of the 
State Constitution, in 1845, the list of inspectors since 
that date loses its local interest, and is here omitted. 

Benjamin Ashby, Feb. 7, 1840; John H. Beach, April 20, 1818 ; 
Samuel Brown, March 2, 1843 ; Artemas Cadj', April 16, 1822 ; 
George Casey, April 20, 1818 ; Samuel Cumpston, Feb. 13, 1821 ; 
Robert Cook, April 23, 1839 ; Seneca B. Dennis, April 10, 1838 ; 
Ulysses F. Doubleday, Feb. 25, 1838 ; Charles D. Fitch, May 3, 
1845 ; Peter G. Fosdick, Feb. 7, 1840 ; James Glover, April 20, 
1818 ; John Garrow, Feb. 25, 1834 ; Samuel Gilmore, May 3, 1845 ; 
Stephen A. Goodwin, March 2, 1843 ; John H. Hardenburgh, March 
28, 1828 ; Joshua Haskins, Apr. 10, 1838 ; Horace Hills, Feb. 13, 
1821 ; March 13, 1824 ; Apr. 3, 1830 ; Apr. 6, 1832 ; Harvey Hinman, 
Apr. 6, 1832 ; Thos. Y. Howe, Jr., Feb. 25, 1834 ; Ellery A. Howland, 
Feb. 7, 1840 ; Henry Ivison, Jr., April 18, 1840 ; Freeborn G. Jewett, 
April 10,1838; Archy Kasson, April 20, 1818 ; Lounsbury Willet, 
April 10, 1838; Harvey Lyon, Feb. 7, 1840; Elijah Miller, April 
20, 1818 ; Michael S. Myers, March 2, 1843 ; William H. Noble, 
March 2, 1843 . Eleazer R. Palmer, May 3, 1845 ; Gershom Pow- 
ers, Feb. 13, 1821 ; April 2, 1830 ; Henry Polhemus, May 8, 1839 ; 
John Porter, April 6, 1833 ; Joseph L. Richardson, April 10, 1838 ; 
Woodin Rice, March 13, 1824 ; Aprn 16, 1827 ; Luman Sherwood, 
May 3, 1845 ; Bradley Tuttle, April 6, 1832 ; Feb. 25, 1834 ; Ho- 
ratio Van Dusen, April 10, 1838 ; Walter Weed, Feb. 13, 1821 ; 
March 13, 1824 ; April 16, 1827 ; April 2, 1830 ; Elijah Wheeler, 
March 2, 1843 ; Ezekiel Williams, Feb. 13, 1821 ; March 13, 1824 ; 
April 16, 1827; April 24, 1830; April 6, 1832; Feb. 25, 1834; 
Jared Wilson, May 10, 1845. 

A.GENTS OF AUBUKN PBISON. 
William Brittin, April, 1818; Capt. Elam Lynds, February, 



CIVIL LIST. 515 

1833 ; Richard Goodell, — , 1835 ; Hon. Gersbom Powers, — , 1836 
Col. Levi Lewis, November, 1839 ; John Garrow, June, 1836 
Capt. Elam Lynds, May, 1838 ; Dr. Noyes Palmer, June, 1839 
Henry Polhemus, — , 1841 ; John Beardsley, March, 1843 ; Russell 
Chappell, July, 1845 ; Abraham Gridley, January, 1848 ; Henry 
Underwood, January, 1849 ; Benjamin Ashby, March, 1850; Col. 
Chas. W. Pomeroy, April, 1851 ; Col. Levi Lewis, May, 1854 ; 
Thomas Kirkpatrick, January, 1860 ; David B. McNeil, January, 
1864; John H. Conklin, February, 1865; Morgan Augsbury, Au- 
gust, 1866 ; A. G. Salisbury, — , 1868; Allen Ross, January, 1869. 

TKUSTEES OF THE AUBURN THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY. 

1830. — John Linklaen,* Glen Cuyler,* Rev. Hering Davis,* 
David Hyde,* Thaddeus Edwards,* Henry McNeil, Rev. Levi 
Parsons,* Rev. Benj.B. Stockton,* Rev. Dirck C. Lansing, D. D .,* 
Rev. William Wisner, D. D., * Rev. Henry Axtell, D. D., * Rev. 
Ebenezer Fitch, D. D., * Rev. David Higgins,* Rev. Seth Smith,* 
William Brown.* 1831.— Bradley Tuttle,* Col. Samuel Bellamy,* 
Hon. Nathaniel W. Howell.* 1833.— Hon. John H. Beach.* 
1833.— Eleazer Hills.* 1835.— Henry Dwight.* 1838.— Horace 
Hills. 1839.— Rev. Henry P. Strong,* James S. Seymour, Hon. 
Hiram F. Mather. 1830.— T. Marshall. 1833.— Rev. Josiah Hop- 
kins, D. D. 1833.— Rev. John Keep, Hon. S. M. Hopkins, 
LL. D.* 1834.— Hon. John Porter, Hon. Gerritt Smith, Rev. 
Sereno E. Dwight, D. D.* 1835.— Abijah Fitch. 1838.— Rev. 
Miles P. Squier, D. D., * Jabez Goodell,* Nathan Munro.* 1839.— 
Rev. L. E. Lathrop, D. D., * Rev. Washington Thatcher.* 1840.— 
Rev. Simeon North, LL. D., Richard Steel. 1841.— Azariah 
Smith, Simeon Benjamin. 1843.— Aristarchus Champion. 1843.— 
Hon. Asher Sampson.* 1845.— Benjamin B. Johnson, John J. 
Knox. 1846.— Hon. Abner Hollister,* Sylvester Willard. 1848.— 
Hu-am H. Seelye,* Hon. Elijah Rhodes.* 1849.— Rev. William 
H. Spencer,* Rev. Samuel Gridley, D. D. 1851.— Rev. Timothy 

*Since deceased. 



516 HISTORY OF AUBURN. 

Stillman, D. D., Rev. P. H. Fowler, D. D. 1853.— Rev. R. W. 
Condit, D. D. 1854.— Alfred Cobb. 1855.— Rev. Henry ^endall, 
Albert T. Chester, D. D., Hon. Frederic T. Starr. 1857.— Nicoll 
H. Deering, M. D. 1858.— Rev. J. B. Shaw, D. D., Rev. A. W. 
Cowles.D. D. I860.— S. W. Fisher, D. D. 1863.— John Fisher, 
Esq., of Batavia, Rev. W. C. Wisner.f 1865.— Rev. Levi Parsons,^ 
Mount Morris. 

THE SHEBIFFS OF CAYUGA COUNTY. 

Sheriffs were originally appointed every year by the 
Council of Appointment. ISTo person could hold the 
office more than four successive years, nor could he 
hold any other office at the same time. It must be 
borne in mind that previous to March 8th, 1799, the 
present County of Cayuga formed part of the old 
County of Onondaga. 

Onondaga Coxjnty. — John Harris, appointed March 14, 1794 ; 
Abiather Hull, February 9, 1796 ; Comfort Tyler, February 17, 
1798. 

Cayuga County. — Joseph Ammin, appointed March 14, 1799 ; 
Peter Hughes, August 10, 1801 ; Solomon^Buell,| January 13, 1804; 
Jacob S. C. DeWitt, March 18,1806; Jonathan \^Richmond, Feb- 
ruary 24, 1808 ; Zenas Goodrich, February 11, 1812 ; Charles H. 
Morrell, March 3, 1813 ; Nathaniel Garrow.^February 28, 1815 ; 
Archibald Green, February 13, 1819 ; Nathaniel Garrow, Feb- 
ruary 12, 1821. 

Since 1821 sheriffs have been elected for a term of 
three years, and are ineligible to tlie same office for 
the term next succeeding. 

t Vice father, resigned. 

t Son of the original Trastee,Rev. Levi Parsons. 



CIVIL LIST. 517 

i'' iSTatlianiel Garrow, elected November, 1832 ; Archibald Green, 
November, 1835 ; Peleg Gallup, November, 1828 ; Peter Langer, 
November, 1831 ; Warren Parsons, November, 1834 ; George H. 
(Jarr,* March 30, 1838 ; Hiram Rathbun, November, 1838 ; George 
H. Carr, November, 1841 ; Augustus Pettibone, November, 1844 ; 
Joseph P. Swift, November, 1847 ; Stephen Fancher, November, 
1850 ; John S. Knapp,f December, 1853 ; John S. Knapp, Novem- 
ber, 1853,-; Edwin B. Hoskins, November, 1856 ; Daniel D. Buck, 
November, 1859 ; James Mead, November, 1862 ; S3'^dney Mead, 
November, 1865 ; John E. Savery, November, 1868. 

THE CLERKS OF CAYUGA COUNTY, 

According to the act of February 12th, 1796, it was 
declared to be the duty of the County Clerk to keep 
the County Records, and act as Clerk of the Inferior 
Court of Common Pleas. In 1821, his term of office 
was fixed at three years, and his seal declared to be the 
seal of the Court of Common Pleas; and, in 1847, the 
County Clerks were declared to be Clerks of the Su- 
preme Court, and their seals the seals of the Supreme 
Court. 

Onondaga County. — Benjamin Ledyard, appointed March 14, 
1794. 

Cayuga County. — Benjamin Ledyard, appointed March 14, 
1799; Peter Hughes, January 3, 1804; Enos T. 'ihroop, February 
5, 1811; Elijah Miller, February 26, 1813; Enos T. Throop, 
February 13, 1815 ; James Glover, March 3, 1819 ; George B. 
Throop, February 14, 1831 ; George B. Throop, November — , 
1832 ; Abraham Gridley, November — , 1835 ; Michael S. Myers, 
November — , 1828 ; Wm. Richardson, November — , 1837 ; Philip 

* Vice Parpons deceased. t Vice Fancher deceased. 



518 HISTORY OF AUBURN. 

Van Arsdale, November — , 1843 ; Ebenezer B. Cobb, November 
— , 1846 ; Edwin B. Marvin, November — , 1852 ; Benjamin B, 
Snow, November — , 1858; John S. Lanehart, November — , 1854. 

DISTRICT ATTORNEYS. 

The office of District Attorney wsis created April 
4tli, 1801, at which time the State was divided into 
seven districts. The Seventh District included the 
Counties of Cajuga, Onondaga, Ontario, Steuben, Tio- 
ga, Alleghany from 1806, Broome from 1806, Seneca 
from 1804, Genesee from 1802, Chatauqua and Ni- 
agara from 1808, and Cattaraugus from 1808. A law 
passed the 21st of April, 1818, made each county 
a district. From 1821 to 184T, the attorneys were 
appointed by the Court of General Sessions in each 
county. Since 1847 they have been elected triennially. 

William Stuart, appointed March 3, 1802 ; Daniel W. Lewis, 
March 9, 1810 ; William Stuart, February 13, 1811 ; Vincent Mat- 
thew, March 13, 1813: Daniel Conger, April 17, 1815; Joseph L. 
Richardson, June 11, 1818 ; John Porter, February 14, 1831 ; Theo- 
dore Spencer, — 14, 1838 ; Richard L. Smith, January 31, 1882 ; 
Michael S. Myers, January 25, 1838 ; Dennison Robinson, January 
27, 1841 ; Luman Sherwood, June 3, 1844 ; Ebenezer W. Ames> 
January — , 1847 . Theodore M. Pomeroy, November — , 1850 ; 
Solomon Giles, November — , 1856 ; George I. Post, November 
— , 1859: Richard C. Steel, November—, 1863 ; William B. Mills, 
November — , 1867. 

JUDICIARY. 

SURROGATES. 

In 1787 the appointment of surrogates was author- 



CIVIL LIST. 519 

ized in every connty by the council of appointment. 
There was an appeal from their decisions to the Judge 
and Courts of Probates, who also held jurisdiction in 
cases of decease out of the State, or of non-residents 
within the State. This conrt was abolished March 21, 
1823. Under the constitution of 1821, the Surrogates 
were appointed for four years by the Governor and 
Senate. Appeals from their decisions were then made 
to the Chancellor. The office of surrogate was made 
elective in 1846, tho.ugh it was abolished in counties 
having a population exceeding 40,000, in which 
cases tlie duties were performed by tlie County 
Judge. 

ONOITOAGA SUKEOGATES. 

Moses DeWitt, appointed March 14, 1794 ; Thomas Mumford, 
Oct. 1, 1797. 

CAYUGA SURROGATES. 

Glen Cuyler, appointed March 14, 1799 ; Eleazer Burnham, Feb- 
ruary 5, 1811 ; Glen Cuyler, February 26, 1813 ; Eleazer Burnham, 
Feb. 28, 1815 ; Seneca Wood, June 7, 1820 ; Benj. L. Cuyler, Feb- 
ruary 14, 1821 ; John Porter, March 12, 1828 ; Thomas Y. Howe, 
Jr., March 18, 1836 ; George H. Wood, April 14, 1840; Charles B. 
Perry, February 15, 1844 ; Jacob R. How, June, 1847 ; William 
B. Woodin, November, 1859. 

SPECIAL SURROGATES. 

The constitution of 1846 authorized the Legislature, 
upon the application of a Board of Supervisors, to pro- 
vide for the election of not exceeding two officers in 



520 . HISTORY OF AUBUliN. 

any one county, to perform the duties of Surrogate and 
County Judge in case of inability to act or vacancy. 

Solomou Giles, elected November, 1852 ; Campbell W. Haynes, 
November, 1855 ; John S. M. Davie, November, 1861 ; John S. M. 
Davie, November, 18G4. 

FIKST JUDGES. ' 

Under the first constitution the number of judges 1 
and assistant justices in different counties varied great- 1 
ly. March 27th, 1818, tlie number was limited to five. ' 
By the revised constitution of 1821, the first judges 
were appointed by the Governor and Senate for a term 
of five years. 1 

Seth. Phelps, appointed March 14, 1794 ; Walter Wood, Febru- 
ary 26, 1810; Elijah Miller, March 13, 1817; Gershom Powers, 
January 31, 1823 ; Jos. L. Richardson, January 8, 1827. 

COUNTY JUDGES. 

The constitution of 1846 made the ofiice of county 
judge elective, and his term of office four years. 

John P. Hulbert, elected June, 1847 ; George Humphreys, No- 
vember, 1851 ; Charles C. Dwight, November, 1859 ; William 
Hughitt, November, 1863. 

SPECIAL JUDGES. 

The constitution of 1846 authorized the Legislature, 
5upon the application of a Board of Supervisors, to pro- 
vide for the election of not exceeding two officers in 
any one county, to perform the duties of County Judge 
and Surrogate in case of inability to act or vacancy, 

Charles J. Hulbert, elected November, 1852 ; Fayette G. Day, 
November, 1857 ; Arazi Wood, Novembei-, 1863. 



CIVIL LIST. 5211 

LEGISLATURE. 

SENATOKIAL DISTEICTS. 

Under the first constitution, the State Senate con- 
sisted of twenty-four members, apportioned among 
four great districts. Members were chosen for the pe- 
riod of four _years each. After the first election they 
w^ere so divided that the term of six members expired 
every year. An additional Senator was allowed each 
district, when its census showed an increase of its elec- 
tors of one twenty-fourth. The census of 1T97 made 
the number forty-three ; but in 1801, it was fixed at 
thirty-two. The County of Cayuga was included in 
what was called the Western District. So extensive 
was this district, that of all its members, elected pre- 
vious to 1821, but two or three were from this County. 
The list up to that date, therefore, possesses little or no 
local interest. 

The constitution of 1821 divided the State into 
eight senatorial districts, each having four Senators. 
One Senator was elected every year, and his term of 
ofiice was four years. The Seventh District comprised 
the counties of Cayuga, Onondaga, Ontario, and Sen- 
eca. To these were added, Yates, Feb. 5th, 1823 : 
Wayne, April 11th, 1823 : and Cortland, May 23, 1836. 

SENATORS. 

1833.— Silas Bowker, Bryan Green, Jesse Clark, Jonas Earll, 
Jr. 1824.— Silas Bowker, Bryan Green, Jesse Clark, Jedediah 



522 HISTORY OF AUBURN. 

Morgan. 1825.— Jesse Clark, Jedediah Morgan, Jonas Earll, Jr., 
John C. Spencer. 1836.— Jonas Earll, Jr., Jedediah Morgan, 
John C. Spencer, Truman Hart. 1827.— Victory Birdseye, John C. 
Spencer, Truman Hart, William M. Oliver. 1828.— John C. Spen- 
cer, Truman Hart, William M. Oliver, George B. Throop. 1829.— 
Truman Hart, William M. Oliver, George B. Throop, Hiram F. 
Mather. 1830.— William M. Oliver, George B. Throop, Hiram F. 
Mather, Thomas Armstrong. 1831.— George B. Throop, Hiram 
F. Mather, Thomas Armstrong, William H. Seward. 1832.— Hi- 
ram F. Mather, Thomas Armstrong, William H. Seward, Jehiel 
H. Halsey. 1833.— Thomas Armstrong, William H. Seward, Je- 
hiel H. Halsey, Samuel L. Edwards. 1834.— William H. Seward, 
Jehiel H. Halsey, Samuel L. Edwards, Thomas Armstrong. 1835. 
—Jehiel H. Halsey, Samuel L. Edwards, Thomas Armstrong, 
Chester Loomis. 1836. — Samuel L. Edwards, Thomas Armstrong, 
Chester Loomis, John Beardsley. 1837. — Thomas Armstrong, 
Chester Loomis, John Beardsley, Samuel L. Edwards. 1838. — 
Chester Loomis, John Beardsley, Samuel L. Edwards, John May- 
nard. 1889. — John Beardsley, Samuel L. Edwards, John May- 
nard, Robert C. Nicholas. 1840.— John Maynard, Samuel L. Ed- 
wards, Robert C. Nicholas, Mark H. Sibley. 1841. — John May- 
nard, Robert C. Nicholas, Mark H. Sibley, Elijah Rhoades. 1842 
— Robert C. Nicholas, Elijah Rhoades, Lyman Sherwood, William 
Bartlet. 1843. — Lyman Sherwood, Elijah Rhoades, William Bart- 
let, John Porter. 1844. — Elijah Rhoades, William Bartlet, John 
Porter, Albert Lester. 1845. — William Bartlet, John Porter, Al- 
bert Lester, Henry J. Sedgwick. 1848. — John Porter, Albert Les- 
ter, Henry J. Sedgwick, Richard H. Williams. 1847. — Albert 
Lester, Henry J. Sedgwick, Richard H. Williams, Abraham Grid- 
ley. 

The constitution of 1847 made tliirtj-two senatorial 
districts, in which one nieraber was elected every other 
year for a term of two years. At first Cayuga and 



CIVIL LIST. 523 

Wayne Counties constituted the Twenty-Fourth Dis~ 
trict^ but in 1867 it was changed to Twenty- Fifth. 

Wm. J. Comwell, 1847; William Beach, 1849-1851 ; William 
Clark, 1853; Samuel C. Cuyler, 1855; Alex. B. Williams, 1857- 
1859 ; Chauncey M. Abbott, 1861 ; Stephen K. Williams, 1863,. 
1865, 1867. • 

MEMBERS OF ASSEMBLY. 

The assembly has always been chosen annually. It 
consisted at first of seventy members, with the power 
to increase one with every one-seventieth increase of 
the number of electors, until it should reach three hun- 
dred. When the constitution was amended in 1801, 
the number had reached one hundred and eight, but 
was reduced to one hundred, with a provision that it 
should be increased after each septennial census, at the 
rate of two annually, until the number reached one 
hundred and fifty. In 1821 the number of members 
was fixed at one hundred and twenty-eight. Owing to 
the several divisions of the county, and to the occasional 
re-apportionments, the representation of Cayuga has 
varied at times from one to four members. At present 
Cayuga County sends two members to the Assembly. 

ONONDAGA. 
1797.— Silas Halsey, Comfort Tyler. 1798.— Silas Halsey, Com- 
fort Tyler. 1799.— Edward Paine, John Richardson. 

CAYUGA. 
1800.— Silas Halsey. 1801.— Silas Halsey. 1802.— Salmon Buell. 
1803.— Salmon Buell, Silas Halsey, Thomas Hewitt. 1804,— Silas 
Halsey, Thomas Hewitt, Amos Rathbun. 1805.— John Grover, 



524: HISTORY OF AUBURN, 

Jr., Amos Rallibim. 1806.— John Grover, Jr., Amos Rathbun. 
1807.— John Grover, Jr., Amos Rathbun. 1808.— Elijah Price, 
Richard Townley. 1809.— Henry Bloom, Ebenezer Hewitt, Chas. 
Kellogg. 1810.— Henry Bloom, Charles Kellogg, Stephen Close. 
1811.— Stephen Close, Ebenezer Hewitt, Elisha Durkee. 1813.— 
Stephen Close, Humphrey Howland, Thos. Ludlow. 1813.— "Wm C. 
Bennett, Thomas Ludlow, Wm. Satterlee. 1814.— William C. 
Bennett, William Satterlee, Silas Bowker. 1815. — John H. Beach 
Silas Bowker, Barnabas Smith. 1816.— John H. Beach, John 
Brown, Jr., John McFadden, Barnabas Smith. 1817.— John H. 
Beach, John Brown, Jr., John McFadden, Rowland Day. 1818. 
—William Clark, 2d, Thatcher I. Ferris, Isaac Smith. 1819.— 
William Allen, Elijah Devoe, Henry Polhemus. 1820.— William 
Allen, Samuel Dill, John Haring. 1821.— John Haring, Charles 
Kellogg, Henry Polhemus. 1822.— Samuel Dill, Charles Kellogg, 
Ephraim C. Marsh. 1823.— Josiah Bevier, Elijah Drake, John 
Jackway, John O'Hara. 1824.— Josiah Bevier, Silas Bowker, 
Asahel Fitch, Augustus F. Ferris. 1825.— Elijah Devoe, Roswell 
Enos, John W. Hulbert, Ephraim C. Marsh. 1826.— Eleazer 
Burnham, Aaron Dennis, Thatcher I. Ferris, Campbell Waldo. 
1827.— James Kenyon, Gardner Kortright, Andrew Preston, Peter 
Yawger. 1828.— Henry R. Brinkerhoff, Philo Sperry, Gardner, 
Kortright, William H. Noble. 1829.— Henry R. Brinkerhoff, 
William H. Noble, Wing Taber, Ephraim Hammond. 1880.— 
Ephraim Hammond, Solomon Love, William H. Noble, Richard 
L. Smith. 1831. — Solomon Love, Elias Manchester, George S. 
Tilford, Peter Yawger. 1832. -John Beardsley, George H. Brin- 
kerhoff, John W. Sawyer, George S. Tilford. 1833.— John Beards- 
ley, George H. Brinkerhoff, John W. Sawyer, Simon Lathrop. 
1834. — Dennis Arnold, Cornelius Cnykendall, Andrew Groom, 
Noyes Palmer. 1835. — Cornelius Cuykendall, Andrew Groom, 
Noyes Palmer, Andrews Preston. 1836. — Dennis Arnold, Charles 
K. Shepard, Richard L. Smith, William Wilbur. 1837.— Curtis C. 
Cady, Charles E. Shepard, William Wilbur. 1838.— Henry R. 



crv^L LIST. 525 

Filley, Isaac S. Miller, Nathan G. Morgan. 1839.— Nathan G. 
Morgan, Henry R. Filley, John Mcintosh. 1840. — Artemus Cady, 
John W. McFadden, Andrews Preston. 1841. — Darius Adams, 
Osman Rhoades, John W. McFadden. 1843. — John L. Cuyler, 
Yincent Kenyon, Alvarez Tupper. 1843. — Vincent Kenyon, Al- 
fred Lyon, Darius Monroe. 1844. — Ashbel Aveiy, Benj. F. Hall, 
Robert Hume. 1845. — David Gould, Leonard Searing, Wm. Titus. 
1846.— Samuel Bell, Wm. J. Cornwall, John S. Rathbun. 1847.— 
Samuel Bell, Wm. J. Cornwell, John S. Rathbun. 1848. — Ebene- 
zer Curtis, John I. BrinkerhoflE", Hector C. Tuthill. 1849. — James 
D. Button, John I. Brinkerhoff, Hector C. Tuthill. 1850.— Hiram 
Coon, John Richardson, Ashbel Avery. 1851. — Levi Colvin, Geo. 
Underwood, Delos Bradley. 1853.— William Hayden, George 
Underwood, Delos Bradley. 1853. — WUliam Hayden, Terence J. 
Kennedy, Mathias Hutchinson. 1854. — Justus Townsend, Mosely 
Hutchinson, Mathias Hutchinson. 1855. — Moore Conger, David 
L. Dodge, William B. Woodin. 1856. — Sordis Dudley, Leonard 
Simons, Tolbert Powers. 1857. — James J. Owen, Theodore M. 
Pomeroy, Hiram TilFt. 1858.— David B. Baldwin, Chauncey M. 
Abbott. 1859.— William W. Payne, Chauncey M. Abbott. 1860. 
— William W. Payne, Allen D. Morgan. 1861. — Heman Benton, 
Smith Anthony. 1863. — William A. Halsey, Smith Anthony. 
1863.— George I. Post, Wm. P. Robinson. 1864.— Benjamin M. 
Close, Wm. P. Robinson. — 1865. — Benjamin M. Close, John L. 
Parker. 1866.— Homer N. Lockwood, John L. Parker. 1867.— 
Homer N. Lockwood, John L. Parker. 1868. — Charles H. Weed, 
Sanford Gifford. 1869.— Charles H. Weed, Sanford Gilford. 

DELEGATES TO CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTIONS. 

The first constitutional convention was held at Al- 
bany, October 13-27th, 1801. The delegate to this 
convention from Cayuga County was the Member of 
Assembly, Silas Halsey. 



.'526 HISTORY OF AUBDKN. 

The constitutional convention of 1821 assembled at 
Albany, August 28tli, and adjourned November lOtli. 
The County of Cayuga sent three delegates to this 
Convention. The delegate whose name is marked 
thus (*) did not sign the constitution. 

David BrinkerhofiF, Rowland Day, * Augustus F. Ferris. 

Agreeably to the expression of popular will in the 
election of November 6th, 1845, an act was passed 
by the Legislature, April 22d, 1846, calling the third 
constitutional convention, which met accordingly, June 
1st, and adjourned November 9th, 1846. To this con- 
vention also Cayuga County sent three delegates, viz : 

Daniel John Shaw, Elisha W. Sheldon, Peter Yawger. 

The question of holding a fourth constitutional 
convention liaving been submitted to the people of 
the State of New York November 6th, 1866, and de- 
cided in the affirmative, the said convention was 
called in the usual manner, viz : by a special act of 
the Legislature, passed March 29th, 1867 ; and met at 
Albany, June 3d, 1867, and adjourned sine die^ in 
February, 1868, without completing its work. A"* in 
former cases, Cayuga County sent one delegate from 
each of its assembly districts. 

Hon. Charles C. Dwight, Hon. George Rathbun. 

PRESIDENTIAL ELECTORS. 

The Federal Constitution provides that the Presi- 
dent and Vice-President shall be chosen by electors 



CIVIL LIST. 527 

appointed in such manner as the Legislatures of the 
respective States shall direct, and the number shall be 
equal to the number of senators and representatives. 
In accordance with an act passed April 12th, 1792, the 
electors from this State were, till 1825, appointed by 
the Legislature itself. The names only of electors re- 
siding in and representing Cayuga County are given. 

1812.— Jothani Jayae. 1816.— Richard Townley. 1834.— Elea- 
zer Burnham. 

Since March 15th, 1825, electors have been chosen, 
one from each Congressional District and two at large, 
by a general ticket, on the Tuesday next after the first 
Monday in November, 

1828.— Asaph Strong. 1832.— Seth Thomas. 1832.— Nathaniel 
Garrow.* 1836.— Peleg Slade. 1840.^Albert Crane. 1844.— 
Daniel Hibbard. 1848.— Stephen Fancher. 1853.— William C. 
Beardsley. 1856. — Eleazer Burnham. I860.— William Van Mar- 
ter. 1864.— John E. Seeley. 1868.— Hector C. Tuthill. 

EEPEESENTATIVES IN CONGKESS. 

The Constitution of the United States directs that a 
census be taken every ten years, and that after each 
enumeration Congress shall apportion the representa- 
tion among the several States. As soon as practicable, 
after each apportionment, the Legislature divide the 
State into Congressional Districts. The divisions, 
dates thereof, and numbers of the Districts in which 
Cayuga County has been involved, are set forth in the 
following table. 

* Elector at large. 



628 HlSTuKY OF AUBUKN. / 

^arch 23, 1797.— Cayuga (1799), Onondaga, Ontario, Steuben, 
and Tioga Counties, district No. 10. 

Marcii 80, 1803.— Cayuga, Genesee, Ontario, Steuben, No. 17. 

March 20, 1804. — Alleghany (1806), Cayuga, Genesee, Ontario, 
Steuben, No. 17. 

March 8, 1806. — Cajoiga, Seneca, Steuben, Tioga, No. 14. 

June 1, 1812.— (two members), Cayuga, Seneca, Steuben, Tioga, 
Tompkins (1817), No. 20. 

April 17, 1822.— Cayuga, No. 24. 

September 6, 1843.— Cayuga, Cortland, No. 25. 

July 19, 1851.— Cayuga, Wayne, No. 25. 

April 23, 1862.— Cayuga, Seneca, Wayne, No. 24. 

Kepresentatives hold their office two years. Each 
new congress commences on the 4th of March every 
odd year. The election in this State is held on the 
general election day preceding. 

1797.— Hezekiali L. Hosmer. 1799.— William Cooper. 1801.— 
Thomas Morris. 1803.— Oliver Phelps. 1805.— Silas Halsey. 
1807.— John Harris. 1809.— Yincent Matthew. 1811.— Daniel 
Avery. 1813. — Daniel Avery, Oliver C. Comstock. 1815. — Enos 
T. Throop, Oliver C. Comstock. 1817.— Daniel Cruger, Oliver C. 
Comstock. 1819. — Caleb Baker, Jonathan Richmond. 1831. — 
David Woodcock. 1833.— Rowland Day. 1835.— Charles Kel- 
logg. 1837.— Nathaniel Garrow. 1829.— Gershom Powers. 1831. 
Ulysses F. Doubleday. 1833.— Rowland Day. 1835.— Ulysses F. 
Doubleday. 1837.— William H. Noble. 1839.— Christopher Mor- 
gan. 1841. — Christopher Morgan. 1843. — George Rathbun. 1845. 
— .George Rathbun. 1847.— Harmon S. Conger. 1849. — Harmon 
S. Conger. 1851.— Thomas Y. Howe, Jr. 1853.— Edwin B. Mor- 
gan. 1855.— Edwin B. Morgan. 1856.— Edwin B. Morgan. 1859. 
—Martin Butterfield. 1861.— Theodore M. Pomeroy. 1868.— 
Theodore M. Pomeroy. 1865. — Theodore M. Pomeroy. 1867. — 
Theodore M. Pomeroy. 1869. — George W. Cowles. 



BIOGRAPHIES. ' 52& 



CHAPTER X. 

BIOGRAPHIES OF CITIZENS OF AUBURN. 

Hon. William Henry Seward was born in the 
town of Florida, Orange County, JSTew York, May 
16th, 1801. His fondness for learning and his earnest 
perseverance while young, obtained for liim a superior 
education. He attended several schools in the vicinity 
of his father's residence, until he was nine years of 
age, at which time he was sent to the Farmers' Hall 
Academy, at Goshen. At this school, which already 
boasted of having had Daniel "Webster and Aaron 
Burr for pupils, and at an academy afterwards estab- 
lished in Florida, he pursued his studies till the year 
1816. He then applied for admission to Union Col- 
lege, Schenectady, and, though qualified for the Junior 
class, was induced to enter as Sophomore. His col- 
lege career was brilliant. His favorite studies were 
rhetoric, moral philosophy, and the ancient classics ; 
and as a general rule he rose early in the morning to 
prepare his lessons for the ensuing day. Six months 
of his Senior year, 1819, he spent in the Southern 
States as a teacher; and the scenes of cruelty and 
wretchedness he beheld while there wrought into his 
character that strong hostility to every form of op- 
32 



530 HISTOKY OF AUBUKN. 

pression, that has ever marked his public career. He 
was graduated from college with great distinction at 
the age of nineteen. Shortly after taking his degree, 
he applied himself to the study of law, and was ad- 
mitted to the bar of the Supreme Com-t, at Utica, in 
1822. 

In January, 1823, he took up his residence at Au- 
burn, and formed a business connection with Hon. 
Elijah Miller, a distinguished member of the legal 
profession, and at that time First Judge of Cayuga 
County. The following year Mr. Seward married 
Frances Adeline, daughter of Judge Miller. Mr. 
Seward met with several formidable competitors at 
the Auburn bar in the early part of his practice ; but 
their superiority, instead of discouraging him, only 
roused him to emulation; and by his talent, rigid 
self-discipline, and habits of industry, he soon raised 
himself to a station held only by the first lawyers of 
the Union. 

Mr. Seward presided over the memorable Young 
Men's Convention, held at Utica, August 12th, 1828, 
and performed the duties of his position with remarka- 
ble dignity, courtesy and decision. The Anti-Masonic 
party having, in 1830, nominated him Senator for the 
7th district, he was elected by a handsome majority, 
notwithstanding that the district had the previous year 
given a heavy Jackson majority. About the 1st of 
June, 1833, he set out for a trip through Europe, in 



BIOGRAPHIES. 531 

company with his father. During this trip he con- 
tributed letters of foreign travel to the Albany Evening 
Journal. He returned in time to take his seat in the 
Senate for tlie session of 1834. In the fall of this 
year he was nominated by the Whigs to the Governor- 
ship of ISew York, but failed to be elected. 

Mr. Seward has alwaj-s been liberal in his religious 
Adews, cherishing a strong attachment for the Protest- 
ant Episcopal Church. He united with this church at 
St. Peter's, Auburn, in the year 1837. 

Being once more nominated Governor in 1838, he 
was, in a closely-contested campaign, triumphantly 
elected ; and upon the expiration of his term, in 1840, 
he was returned to the office. When he withdrew 
from the gubernatorial chair, in 1843, he devoted him- 
self to the practice of his profession, and continued the 
same with distinction for the six ensuing years. The 
Legislature chose Governor Seward U.S. Senator in 
1849, in the place of Hon., now General John A, Dix, 
whose term was about expiring. He remained in the 
Senate twelve years, being re-elected in 1855. In 
the spring of 1858 he undertook a journey to and 
through Palestine, returning early in 1859. When 
President Lincoln formed his cabinet in 1861, he called 
Governor Seward to the charge of the State Depart- 
ment, retaining him in that position upon his re-elec- 
tion in 1865. On the night of the 14th of April, 1865, 
when the lamented Lincoln was assassinated, an at- 



532 IllSTOKY OF AUBURN. 

tempt was also made upon Secretary Seward's life, 
which almost proved successful. But a gracious Prov- 
idence spared him to the nation, and for four years 
more he administered the affairs of the State Depart- 
ment with that faithfulness and ability which has ever 
marked his career while in the service of the country. 
He has, therefore, performed the duties of his office, 
not only with greater distinction and success, but for a 
longer period than any former premier of this nation. 
Secretary Seward's career of nearly fifty years as a 
citizen, member of the legal profession, and a public 
man, has been that of a talented, public-spirited 
Christian. In private life, he has always been known 
as affectionate, generous, and enterprising. He was 
one of the founders of the Auburn and Owasco Canal 
project, in 1827, and at the laying of the corner- 
stone of the canal dam, in 1835, he delivered an ora- 
tion, which is given in an earlier part of this work. 
He took a leading part in all the enterprises of the day 
for many years, the Auburn Woolen Company in 1845, 
among the others. In 1857, he donated to the city 
land for a highway, from Owasco Street to the creek, 
and from the creek to Mechanic Street, a short dis- 
tance above the big dam, on condition of the city build- 
ing a bridge across the stream at that point. He gave 
his further support to the measure, and addressed the 
common council in furtherance of the project. A 
novel sight, indeed ; Senator of the United [States of 



BIOGKAPHIES. 533 

America, pleading before the coimiioii council of this 
little city for public improvement. To his success in 
the matter the red bridge now testifies. The honor 
and esteem in which he is held by his fellow-citizens 
were demonstrated by the reception they gave him on 
his return from the Holy Land in 1859. The popula- 
tion of the city and country round turned out en masse / 
immense arches, decked wath evergreens and flowers, 
were erected in various places between the E.. K. depot 
and his residence ; cannon fired and bells rung ; a dep- 
utation of citizens waited upon Governor Seward on 
his arrival and escorted him to the house ; bauds of 
music attended, the crowds cheered vociferously, and 
waved their handkerchiefs, and a hundred or more 
lads thronged round the Governor's carriage with ban- 
ners inscribed : " God bless Governor Seward," " Wel- 
come home, Governor Seward," " Long live Governor 
Seward." This was the greatest ovation Auburn ever 
tendered one of her own citizens. They would have 
again met him with a reception on his late return from 
Washington, had he not absolutely declined it. Ilis 
fellow- citizens showed their high appreciation of his 
comprehension, judgment and foresight, by besieging 
him, upon his every return from Washington during the 
the war, for a speech — an exposition of the issues of the 
hour. 

During the comparatively few years of his pro- 
fessional practice, Mr. Seward distinguished himself 



634: IIISTOKY OF AUBUKN. 

as one of the ablest lawyers of the United States. 
Hostility to oppression and love of liberty and jus- 
tice were leading traits of his character. As a pro- 
fessional rule he gave his assistance to the weaker 
party, and never but once took sides against the 
accused. His peculiar aptitude for mechanical and 
scientific subjects obtained him a large and lucra- 
tive practice in patent cases. But what was alone 
sufficient to render Mr. Seward's name illustrious 
was the part he took in the famous trials of "Wyatt 
and Freeman, In 1845, one Wyatt, a convict at 
the State prison, was indicted for the murder of a 
fellow-convict. The day before the trial, "Wyatt 
called upon Mr. Seward for help, and he under- 
took "Wyatt's defense. The case was evidently one 
of moral insanity, and Mr. Seward at his own expense 
summoned many capable witnesses, that the case 
might be fairly presented to the jury. After an 
exciting trial the jury disagreed. Before a second 
trial, a released negro convict, William Freeman 
by name, committed one of the most atrocious 
murders recorded in the annals of crime — that of 
a whole family in cold blood. Upon his capture, 
which was immediate, he acknowledged his guilt 
with idiotic indifiTerence and irrepressible shouts of 
laughter. The public was fearfully excited by this 
crime. It was with the greatest difficulty that 
Freeman was protected from their hands. The 



BIOGRAPHIES. 535 

Governor of the State, Hon. Silas Wright, ordered 
a special term of court for the trials of Wyatt 
and Freeman. In the case of "VVyatt, jurors were 
chosen who owned to having formed an opinion ; 
and, as might have been expected, the prisoner was 
found guilty and sentenced to death. Mr. Seward 
spent upon this case four weeks of hard labor 
without the slightest pecuniary compensation, but 
rather at considerable private expense. The trial of 
Freeman now came on. 

Public excitement was raised to the highest degree 
of intensity. No other cause being apparent for 
the commission of his crime, the people believed 
it to be that he had heard Mr. Seward's argument 
in the first trial of Wyatt, and was impressed 
with some idea of the irresponsibility of one who is 
insane. When the indictment was read to the pris- 
oner, and he was asked whether or no he was guilty, 
he replied with a stupidity that astonished even 
those who wished his death. After the court had 
asked if he had counsel, a death-like stillness reigned 
for a moment, and then Mr. Seward stepped for- 
ward and volunteered to defend him. In bar of a 
trial he offered the plea of insanity, and the trial 
was directed to proceed on this question. A jury 
was drawn under circumstances similar to that by 
which Wyatt was tried. David Wright, Esq., vol- 
unteered to assist in the defense. Attorney-General 



536 HISTOKY OF AUBURN. 

Martin Van Buren conducted the prosecution. For 
two weeks Mr. Seward contested the sanity of 
Freeman with such energy and perseverance as to 
draw plaudits from his most violent opponents. 
When the case was submitted to the jury, eleven 
decided he was guilty, but one that he was not. 
The court, with that irregularity which had already 
characterized its proceedings, received the verdict 
and pronounced upon the prisoner, who was utterly 
unconscious of what was going on, the sentence of 
death. To this proceeding Mr. Seward entered an 
earnest protest; and in a short time he obtained 
an order for a new trial. But the Judge before whom 
he was tried and condemned, declared the prisoner 
incompetent for a second trial ; and after the expi- 
ration of a few weeks. Freeman committed suicide 
in jail, — another convincing proof of his insanity. 
A jpost-mortem examination revealed the fact that 
Freeman's brain was badly diseased, thereby most 
triumphantly substantiating Mr. Seward's plea. The 
undaunted perseverance with which Mr. Seward 
defended that poor demented negro, in the face of 
popular clamor and prejudice, gained for him a 
reputation, which will last as long as this nation 
preserves the principles of justice and liberty, upon 
which it is founded. 

It remains to speak briefly of Mr. Seward's political 
career. Previous to the decline of the N^ational He- 



BIOGRAPHIES. , 537 

publican party, in 1828, he was a member of that party ; 
thenceforward a "Whig and Anti-Mason until the revi- 
val of the Republican party, in 1856. In the various 
posts of public trust and honor wdiich he has held — 
State Senator, Governor, United States Senator, and 
Cabinet officer — he has ever proved himself tl^e foe of 
injustice and oppression, at home and abroad, and the 
friend of liberty, universal suffrage, the interests of 
education, internal improvement, and national exten- 
sion ; and now, in a ripe old age, he is loved and hon- 
ored as one of the truest citizens and noblest statesmen 
this country ever produced. 

Doctor Hackaliah Burt was born at Bridgefield, 
Conn,, in the year 1773. In his native place he studied 
medicine, though physic and surgery, as practiced in 
those days, does not appear to have been congenial to 
his taste. 

He came to this place in March, 1796, three years 
subsequently to the first white settlement, made by 
Colonel John H. Hardenburgh. At the time Dr. 
Burt came to this country, there could not have been 
more than half-a-dozen families in the neighborhood. 
The forests around were the abode of savages, and there 
was hardly a sufiicient clearing to mark it as the habi- 
tation of civilized man. The motive w^hich led young 
Burt to this region is unknown ; but was probably the 
love of adventure, whicli so often tempts the mind of 
youth to seek a fortune in an untried sphere. When 



638 HISTOKY OF AUBUKN. 

he commenced life in the new settlement of Harden- 
biirgh's Corners, he engaged in the mercantile business, 
furnishing supplies to the Indians forming a large share 
of his trade. He joined, at various periods, partner- 
ship with Dr. Crossett, Dan Hyde, and a younger 
brother. His place of business was a little west of 
where the Baptist Church now stands ; but he subse- 
quently removed to the site now occupied by the store 
of P. C. Woodruff & Co. 

In 1801, he returned to Connecticut, and, at his na- 
tive place, wooed and won Eunice, daughter of Epene- 
tus Howe. It was not till the following year, how- 
ever, that he brought his wife to share with him the 
trials of a pioneer's life. He then purchased a large 
farm on the east of South Street, and on the northern 
boundary laid out Grover Street. Upon the borders 
of this tract, whose southern limit was Swift Street, 
and eastern line. Mechanic and Moravia Streets, now 
stand some of the finest residences of the city. In 
1813, Dr. Burt erected and moved into what was then 
considered a handsome house. No. 51 South Street, 
which building stands to the present day, and in which 
he spent the remaining years of his life. 

Dr. Burt adapted himself to the wants of the com- 
munity by serving in various public oflices, the duties 
of which he performed with ability. In the war of 
1812-15 he held a commission as Lieutenant, serving 
thus his country in the double capacity of physician 



BIOGBA.PHIES. 539 

and soldier. But it was in his religious life that he 
displayed his greatest strength of character. He was 
a stanch Episcopalian. At the age of sixteen he 
united with the church, and has been heard to say 
that, as he left the paternal roof, the parting injunction 
was, " Hold fast the profession of the faith." How 
far this counsel was heeded, the church in Auburn can 
testify. In 1805, the society of St. Peter's Church waa 
organized at Dr. Burt's house, at which time he wa& 
elected warden, an office he held for thirty-four con- 
secutive years. Through all trials attendant upon 
scantiness of the number and resources of St. Peter's, 
he remained its steadfast friend ; laboring with untir- 
ing zeal, until his efforts resulted in the successful com- 
pletion of a house of worship. Dr. Burt several times 
represented this chm*ch in diocesan convention, previ- 
ous to the division of this diocese. 

Dr. Burt lived to fine old age — long enough to 
behold his forest home become a large and prosper- 
ous city. His death occurred February 3d, 1859. The 
partner of his long life survived him but a few 
months. Their remains lie interred in St. Peter's 
church-yard. 

To Dr. Burt, one of the oldest settlers of Auburn, 
we are indebted as one of the founders of this large, 
beautiful, and rapidly-growing city. He was educated 
in the stern school of Connecticut morals, with habits 
of industry, strict integrity, and a high moral sense of 



540 HISTORY" OF AUBURN. i 

right, which through life formed the basis of every 
action. Of this latter trait of character the following 
incident is related. When the speculating mania of '36 
was at its height, a company in Boston negotiated 
with him for land, at what was considered an inflated 
value. When this mania collapsed and the land re- 
sumed its former value, the Doctor, unsolicited, and 
from his own conscious sense of right, released the 
contracting parties from a large share of the stipu- 
lated sum. 

Nathaniel Garrow was born at Barnstable, Mass., 
April 26th, 1780. While yet a lad he followed the 
sea for several years. At the age of sixteen he came 
to this comity, with an ax on his shoulder and a 
shilling in his pocket, as his sole possessions. He 
labored in clearing away the forests, which then 
overspread the now fertile fields of this vicinity, en- 
dured the trials of pioneer life, and, in company 
with other settlers, carried on an exchange of com- 
modities with the far-oif settlements of the Mohawk. 
It is said that his first labor here was paid for by 
half the skins of the deer killed by his companions. 
He received no early education, but had a vigorous 
iinderstandinp;, and qualities of mind and heart which 
stamped him one of Nature's noblemen. In public 
and private life he enjoyed the afiection and confi- 
dence of his fellow-citizens. 

From the age of twenty-one to twenty-five he re- 



BIOGEAPHIES, 541 

ceived several commissions from the Governors of 
the State. About 1809 or '10 he was made, by the 
Council of Appointment, a Justice of the Peace. In 
the same way, in 1815, he became Sheriff of Cayu- 
ga County, which office he held, with one or two in- 
terruptions, until the alteration of the Constitution. 
During his official life, he gave many evidences of 
humanity and benevolence, even to a fault, in the 
duties of his office, when imprisonment for debt — 
that blot upon our statute books — was allowed, and 
when the county was comparatively new. By his 
money, counsel, and sympathy, he alleviated the misfor- 
tunes of those with whom he came in contact. No one 
in affliction appealed to him in vain. For many years 
Mr. Garrow was a trustee of the village. He was 
at various times director of the Cayuga County 
Bank and Bank of Auburn. In 1827 he took an 
interest in the cotton mills at Clarksville, in com- 
pany with the Hon. George B. Throop and Robert 
Muir. The following year he was elected Hepre- 
sentative in Congress for this district. In 1832 he 
was chosen Presidential Elector. He was appoint- 
ed marshal of the district in 1837, and received a 
re-appointment a few days before his death. About 
this time he lost his fortune in land speculation. 
The many other posts of confidence and honor, 
which he filled with credit to himself and satisfac- 
tion to his fellow-citizens, showed how well known 



542 HISTOKY OF AUBUKN. 

and appreciated he was, and how great was the 
vigor and activity of his mind. 

Mr. Garrow was engaged in all benevolent enter- 
prises for the welfare of society. He was a life 
member of the American Bible Society, and con- 
tributed largely to Hamilton College and the Au- 
burn Theological Seminary. In 1831 he became a 
member of the Baptist church of this city, and con- 
tributed $8,000 to the erection of a church edi- 
fice. To all objects of charity and benevolence he was, 
■when fortune permitted, a cheerful giver ; when 
worldly possessions passed away, it was a constant 
source of grief that he could not relieve the necessi- 
ties of those in want. 

On the evening of March 3d, 1841, having spent 
the day in his ordinary employment, he suddenly 
died. The trustees of the village met on the morn- 
ing of the 5th and passed resolutions expressive of 
regret at the loss the village had sustained, and of 
their determination to attend the funeral in a body. 
The several Fire Companies, likewise, and the Au- 
burn Guards and Auburn Band, respectively, met, 
passed resolutions of grief, and agreed to attend 
the funeral. 

Hon. George Underwood was born at Cooperstown, 
N. Y., on the 4:th of January, 1816. In the third year 
of his age he came to Auburn with his father, and, as 
he grew to manhood, became identified with the pros- 



BIOGRAPHIES. '■ 543 

perity of the place. He entered Hamilton College at 
the age of fifteen ; but ill health repeatedly interrupted 
his studies, and he spent seven years in the completion 
of his under-graduate course. His life as a student 
was a laborious one. Having in view the profession of 
a lawyer, he made present studies minister to his future 
career. He was graduated with the second honor in 
the class of '38 — a class containing names already 
marked with distinction. Several years later he testi- 
fied his devotion to Alma Mater by the endowment 
of a prize competition in chemistry. 

Upon his return to Auburn, Mr. Underwood applied 
himself to the study and practice of law. He soon at- 
tained high standing, and for the rest of his life ranked 
among the prominent members of the bar of this Judi- 
cial District. His peculiar excellence was that of a 
corporation lawyer ; he was for many years attorney 
for the Auburn and Syracuse Railroad Company. The 
confidence and esteem in which he was held by his 
fellow-citizens was evinced, in a measure, by his first 
and second election to the Assembly, in 1850 and '51, 
and to the mayoralty in 1854. Politics as such, how- 
ever, were not to his taste. As he took his seat in the 
Assembly, he playfully remarked that he hoped to pass 
a winter in Albany without detriment to his morals or 
his patriotism. Mr, Underwood was a friend of public 
enterprise, particularly of institutions of learning. 
He took an active part in the attempt to establish the 



544 HIST<)RV OF A.UBUKN. 

Auburn Female College, in 1852 and '53, most of 
the meetings to discnss the project being held in his 
office. 

The subject of this sketch united with the First 
Presbyterian Church of this city, April 1st, 1855, and 
being a few months later chosen an elder, became a 
valued member of the session. 

The burden of professional business rendering him 
more susceptible to the inroads of disease, he was at 
length compelled to lay aside his duties and seek a cli- 
mate better suited to his health. He spent the winter 
of 1848-9 in South Carolina and Havana. Receiving 
no apparent benefit, he returned to Auburn about the 
first of May in a rapid decline. The grasp of his mal- 
ady, pulmonary consumption, could not be loosed, and 
on the evening of the 25th he departed this life. 

On the following day, the Bar of Cayuga held a 
meeting at the court-house, and, in resolutions passed 
thereat, paid a fitting tribute to the memory of the de- 
ceased. Beside his family, Mr. Underwood left behind 
him a large circle of personal friends ; and at his death 
Auburn lost one of her most honored citizens ; the 
legal profession, a valuable member ; and the commu- 
nity, a firm and steadfast friend of every enterprise 
calculated to benefit the people or advance the pros- 
perity of the place. 

Bev. George Morgan Hills, Rector of St. Paul's 
Church, Syracuse, New York, is the youngest son of 



BIOGEAPHIES. 545 

Horace Hills, an early and prominent citizen of Au- 
burn, and was born in the then village, October 10th, 
1825. He was prepared for college in select schools 
and under private tutors, and very early evinced great 
promise in oratory and belles-letters. When he was 
fourteen years of age, he removed with his parents 
from Auburn to the city of I^ew York. At seven- 
teen, he set to music what is believed to have been the 
first " Christmas Carol " sung in this country. 

He was graduated with distinction at Trinitv Col- 
lege, Plartford, Connecticut, in 1847; his oration at 
the commencement being so marked for vigorous and 
manly thought, as well as beauty of diction, that at 
the request of several distinguished literary gentlemen 
it was published. Immediately after his graduation, 
he was admitted a candidate for holy orders in the 
Diocese of Western E"ew York. After three years' 
study in divinity, he received the degree of Master of 
Arts from his Alma Mater, and was ordained a deacon 
by the Eight Eev. Bishop DeLancy. Mr. Hills took 
charge at once of Grace Church, Lyons, Wayne 
County, ITew York. In one year, he was ordained to 
the priesthood, by the same Bishop. 

He remained at Lyons till called to the rectorship of 
Trinity Church, Watertown, ]N"ew York. In 1857, he 
took charge of St. Paul's Church, Syracuse, one of the 
largest and most influential congregations in the State, 
which he still continues to hold. He made, in 1861, 
33 



546 HISTOKY OF AUBURN. 

an extensive tour in Europe, which occupied nearly a 
year. His contributions every week to the columns of 
the Gospel Messenger, of letters of foreign travel, are 
still remembered by the thousands of subscribers to 
that paper for elegant diction, and evidences of an un- 
commonly observing mind. 

In 1862 he was elected a trustee of the General 
Theological Seminary of the United States, and was 
subsequently placed by that corporation on the " com- 
mittee for the examination of students." In 1863, he 
was chosen by the convention of the Diocese of West- 
ern I^ew York 'as one of the four clergymen to repre- 
sent the diocese in the General Convention of the 
Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States. 
Five years later, at the organization of the Diocese of 
Central Kew York, he was chosen president of the 
first standing committee of the diocese ; and, at the 
special convention of the same, held January 13th, 
1869, he was among those prominently balloted for, as 
Bishop of the Diocese. \ 

Mr. Hills, now in the prime of life, endowed with a 
vigorous, well-disciplined mind, and a genial disposi- 
tion, occupies a position in the ministry of the Episco- 
pal Church in this country, of which his native city 
may well be proud. Widely known for his church- 
manlike views, and as a sound, talented, and accom- 
plished divine, always promoting church-extension and 
missionary work, he is universally respected and ad- 



BIOGRAPHIES. 547 

mired. In tlie pulpit he has few peers ; his style is fa- 
mous for its force, perspicuity, and grace ; and he is 
no less convincing in argument than attractive in de- 
livery. 

Among his published addresses and sermons, the 
most widely known are " The Wise Master-Builder, — 
a sermon commemorative of Bishop DeLancy ; " "A 
Step Between us and Death, — at the burial-service of 
the wife of General John A, Green, Jr. ; " "A 
Mother in Israel, — at the funeral of Mrs. Mary II. 
Pennell ; " and, " The Kecord of the Past, an Incen- 
tive for the Future, — the sermon preached at the last 
convention of the undivided Diocese of Western New 
York." 

Cyrus Curtis Dennis was born in Scipio, Cayuga 
County, May 6th, 1806. At an early age he learned 
the art of civil engineering, and practiced under 
the distinguished surveyor, David Thomas, Esq., 
along the route of the Erie Canal and its western 
branches, during the construction of the same. In 
1826 he engaged in an iron foundry, at Ithaca, 
in company with Benjamin Yail. 

Coming to Auburn in 1833, he became a member 
of the firm of Hyde, Watrous & Co., and went into 
the hardware business. The following year, in con- 
nection with his brothers-in-law, Charles P. Wood 
and David II. Thomas, he established the well-known 
Commercial Iron AVorks, on State Street. Mr. Dennis 



543 HISTORY OF AUBURN. 

took an active interest in the Auburn and Syracuse, 
and Auburn and Rochester Railroads, and was in 
one or both a director for several years. For these 
companies and for the Lake Shore Railroad Co. 
he manufactured large quantities of iron work and 
machinery. 

Mr. Dennis was president of the village of Auburn 
during the years 1840, '41 and '42 ; and was the 
first mayor of the city, being elected in 1848. 

The next year he associated himself with Josiah 
Barber in the manufacture of carpets. Receiving, 
in 1851, the appointment of superintendent of the 
Lake Shore Railroad, of which road he had pre- 
viously been a director, he removed with his family 
to Buffalo. The duties of this position he performed 
with great ability for a period of five years, within 
which time occurred the great excitement at Erie. 
Afterward, for more than a year, he was superin- 
tendent of the Mad River and Lake Erie R. R. 
Upon his resignation of this position he removed 
to Buffalo and engaged in an iron foundry as a 
member of the firm of Moore & Purdie. 

In the spring of 1859, Mr. Dennis returned to 
Auburn, and associating himself with D. Munson 
Osborne, Esq., under the title of D. M. Osborne & 
Co., engaged in the manufacture of the Kirby Mower 
and Reaper. ' The business rapidly increasing 
from the first, the buildings were largely and rapidly 



BIOGRAPHIES. 549 

extended, and the establishment is now well known 
as one of the most extensive and important, mann- 
factories in the whole world. 

When the Auburn Water-Works Company was 
organized under its second charter, in 1863, Mr. 
Dennis was chosen one of the directors of the same. 

The subject of this sketch died at his residence 
on West Genesee Street, June 1st, 1866. During 
the last year of his life he was deeply interested in 
the Southern Central Kailroad, of which he was the 
first president. The friends of the enterprise expected 
much from him in this important w^ork, his practical 
knowledge of civil engineering, and high reputation 
as a railroad man, securing to it a greater degree of 
confidence than it had ever before possessed. 

Mr. Dennis exhibited a high order of intelligence, 
and sustained an unsullied reputation for integrity 
and virtue. He was proverbially known as an up- 
right, straightforward, out-spoken, clear-headed, en- 
terprising, generous, and patriotic citizen, and there 
never was a business man in the whole community 
whose loss was more deeply felt than his. 

IsoAiG Sherwood was born at Williamstown, Massa- 
chusetts, October 13th, 1769. Of his early life we 
have no details. He was married to Mary, daughter 
of Captain Amaria Babbitt, of Ashford, in the same 
State ; and shortly after taking his departure from his 
native place, he settled at Korway, Herkimer County, 



550 HISTORY OF AUBURN. 

then belongino- to the tract of land known as the Hoyal 
Grant. 

Detei'mining a lew years later to remove thence, he 
surveyed the Suscjiiehanna and lake countries, and, 
after some hesitation, decided to find a home in the 
latter. In 1798, consequently, he came to Cayuga 
County, and located in Aurelius, on militaiy lot No. 
36, at the west end of what was then termed the Long 
Crossway : better known in later times as Corduroy. 

In the year 1804, having formed a co-partnership 
with Winston Day, of Skaneateles, in the mercantile 
business, he removed thither. In 1810 he opened a 
public house in this village, and the following year 
purchased an interest in the semi-weekly line of stages 
from Albany to Canandaigua ; in consequence of 
which connection, their trips were increased to thrice- 
weekly. Upon the declaration of war in 1812, the 
route was extended from Canandaigua to Buffalo, 
and their trips were then made daily. In 1824, in con- 
nection with Messrs. Jason Parker, of Utica, and 
Thomas Powell, of Schenectady, he contracted with 
the Government to carry the mails daily from Albany 
to Rochester, BuiFalo, and Niagara Falls, via the 
Ridge Road. These contracts having been previously 
let in sections of the route, the first contract for 
carrying through mails from Albany to Buffalo daily, 
was made and executed by Isaac Sherwood. In 
the spring of 1829, with his son — well known a& 



BIOGRAPHIES. 551 

Colonel John M. Sherwood, now residing in Fhelps, 
Ontario County — he laid the foundations of the 
American Hotel, on the ground previously owned 
by James Glover, Emory Willard, and A. Y. M. 
Suydam. The hotel, being completed, was formally 
opened January 1st, 1830, by Thomas Noyes, sub- 
sequently leased to Joshua L. Jones, and afterward 
occupied by William B. Wood. 

In the year 1833, Mr. Sherwood removed to Auburn. 
After the decease of Parker and Powell, his partners, 
the building and completion of the Erie Canal devel- 
oped the resources of the State to such an extent, as to 
render it necessary for him to associate with himself 
other gentlemen, in order to meet the increased de- 
mands of transportation ; but the principal manage- 
ment of the business devolved upon himself till 1840, 
the time of his death. 

Doctor Joseph Clary was born at Conway, Massachu- 
setts, December 18th, 1787 ; and died at Throopsville, 
May 25th, 1863, in the seventy-sixth year of his age. 
While yet quite young, he removed with his father, 
Abel Claiy, to Adams, Jefferson County, in this State. 
He studied medicine at Kew Hartford, and commenced 
its practice at the age of twenty-five, ^ot possessing a 
strong constitution, physicians advised him to seek a 
change of climate and establish for himself a country 
practice, where he would have plenty of horseback ex- 
ercise. They furthermore recommended him to select 



552 HISTORY OF AUBUKN. 

a fever and ague region. Setting out on a tour of in- 
spection, he came to Auburn, then Ilardenburgh's Cor- 
ners ; but not being satisfied with the locality, he pro- 
ceeded as far west as Rochester. The population of 
this place being small, he returned to Auburn, and 
finally settled at Throopsville, three miles north of 
this place, in 1812. Here he resided until the time of 
his death. The good old age to which he had attained 
shows how far a temperate, cheerful, and active life 
will go to supply the want of a good constitution. 

Dr. Clary was for half a century the principal phy- 
sician of the neighborhood in which he lived. He vis- 
ited his patients with regularity, and preserved the en- 
thusiasm of youth to the last fortnio-ht of his life. A 
man of larger ambition and less merit would have 
sought a wider sphere ; but his characteristic modesty 
made him content with the place of his first choice, 
although the changes of fifty j-ears were constantly 
opening more inviting fields for the exercise of his tal- 
ents. It is doubtful, however, whether he could have 
found a more useful sphere, or associations and social 
fellowship more congenial to his taste. He attained a 
high standing in his profession, was distinguished for 
his careful analysis of symptoms, and was rarely mis- 
taken in the nature or location of the disease. He pos- 
sessed in a high degree the moral qualifications of a phy- 
sician ; and by his virtues and consistent piety won 
universal confidence. 



BIOGRArHIES. 553 

Thougli Dr. Clary was not a resident of this place, 
the proximity of his residence, the nature of his calling, 
and his attractive social qualities made him extensively 
known and highly esteemed, both in Auburn and the 
rest of the county. His two sons, John S. Clary and 
James A. Clary, however, are residents of this city, and 
are respected as able business men, and loyal, gener- 
ous, and enterprising citizens. Dr. Clary united with 
the First Presbyterian Church of Auburn at an early 
period, and was for many years one of its ruling elders. 
His extensive practice as a physician did not interfere 
with the punctual and diligent discharge of his duties 
as a Christian, or in regular attendance upon public 
worship. 

He took a deep interest in the late struggle in the 
land, and presented a calm and loyal confidence in the 
issue. 

His sickness was brief Having attended service on 
the Sabbath, and visited those of his patients with re- 
gard to whom he was most solicitous, he was taken 
violently ill of a fever, and died early in the following 
week. His remains were followed to the grave by a 
large concourse of people, who sincerely mourned his 
departure. It was a solemn and impressive scene, and 
a fitting tribute of respect to the memory of the de- 
ceased. 

Horace Hills was born in East Hartford, Conn., 
October 31st, 1T87. His youth was passed in the 



554 HISTORY OV AUBURN. 

family of liis uncle. Dr. William Porter, of Hadley, 
Mass. 

In May, 1809, he came to Auburn, and began the 
mercantile business, in which he was successfully en- 
gaged for thirty years. From earliest manhood he was 
an earnest supporter of the public services of Christian 
worship, and always gave liberally of his time and 
means for religious purposes. In 1810, he encouraged 
and aided the building of St. Peter's Church, the 
iirst house of worship in the village. He was one of 
the founders of the First Presbyterian Society, in 1815, 
and one of the Second Presybterian Society, in 1828 ; 
in both of which churches he held the office of ruling 
elder for many years. He was also one of the 
founders of the Theological Seminary, of which he was 
trustee. He was at one time president of the village, 
and was long one of the inspectors of the Auburn 
State prison, under appointment from the Governors of 
the State. He was one of the first to introduce the 
cultivation of choice fruits and flowers, and to give 
the village its rural adornments of trees and shrubbery. 
Shortly after his removal to Auburn, he married Miss 
Almira Wilcox, of East Guilford, Conn., whose domes- 
tic and social virtues graced his home for nearly half a 
century. Their united influence was always felt in the 
cause of refined and Christian education. Their sur- 
viving children are two sons, the Rev. Horace Hills, Jr., 
and the Rev. George Morgan Hills, clergyman of the 



BIOGKAPHIES. 555 

Protestant Episcopal Churcli, and three daughters^ 
the founders of the church school for young ladies in; 
Buffalo, N. Y. For the last twenty-two years, Mr. 
Hills has resided in Buffalo, where he still enjoys a. 
" green old age." 

Robert Muir was a native of Scotland, and born at 
Kilwinning, on the 25th of March, 1790. At the age 
of sixteen he came to this country with George Leitch, a 
prominent and early merchant of this place, and became- 
known to the inhabitants of the then village of Auburn, 
as his clerk. A few years later he established himself 
in the mercantile business, and soon won the enviable 
reputation of being one of the most exact and honorable 
of merchants. In 1822, he married Miss Nancy Bennett^ 
of this village, who, with her virtues, domestic and so- 
cial, graced his family circle until her death, in Janu- 
ary, 1864. Their family of two sons and five daugh- 
ters still survive. In 1827, he associated with himself 
the late Hon. Nathaniel Garrow, George B. Throop, 
and Eleazer Hills, in the manufacture of cotton cloth^ 
in the old factory at Throopsville — an institution of 
great value to this community — and afterward became 
sole proprietor of the business. At the same time he 
continued the sale of dry-goods and produce in a store,, 
which many of our citizens remember as standing on 
the north side of Genesee Street, just west of the 
bridge. In the year 1841, he met with one of those 
reverses of fortune, which often overtake the ablest 



556 HISrOKY OF auhltkn. 

and most clear-headed business men, and lost a large 
fortune. Undaunted by this great calamity, he con- 
tinued his mercantile business, though upon a reduced 
scale, until the close of his life. Although a Presby- 
terian from the associations of youth, he gave his sup- 
port to St. Peter's Church in this city, and aided in 
the rebuilding of the church edifice, when destroyed 
by fire in 1832. He was by habit, education, and sen- 
timent, a religious man, 

Mr. Muir died at his residence in this city, February 
17th, 1868, at the advanced age of seventy-eight. By 
his death Auburn lost one of her worthiest, most vener- 
able, and highly respected citizens. For more than 
half a century he was known as one of the most exact, 
honorable, and intelligent merchants. Five and twenty 
years ago, his name was associated with every en- 
terprise calculated to build up the interests of the 
town. He possessed the confidence of the community 
and surrounding farmers to a degree unsurpassed by 
any other individual. He was a man of fine social 
qualities; and his cheerful temper continued to the 
close of his life, though for several years the infirmities 
of age impaired his physical activity. 

James S. Seyinour^ president of the Jl^Tational Bank 
of Auburn, and now one of the oldest and most hon- 
ored citizens of our place, was born at the city of 
Hartford, Conn., in April, 1791. He received a com- 
mon school education in the old red school-house, an 



BIOGKAl'HIES. 657 

institution well remembered by the people of that 
place. AVhile a youth he was a clerk in a mercantile 
establishment in his native town for some time, which 
he left to enter the Hartford Bank, where he remained 
six years, discharging the duties of his office with the 
care and precision which have ever distinguished him 
as a banker. During 1816, seeking a temporary relief 
from business, he visited Western New York, where 
he had two brothers residing, one at Canandaigua, 
cashier of the bank there, the other in Buffalo. In his. 
travels he met, at Utica, John H. Beach, Esq., of Au- 
burn, who was away from town on business relating 
to the bank, then lately established under the auspices 
of himself and his Auburn friends. On his return 
from the West, Mr. Seymour stopped, by invitation, 
at Auburn. A meeting of the directors of the Au- 
burn Bank was called as soon as it was known that he 
was in town, and he was appointed cashier. The 
stockholders had made their iii'st payment on their 
subscriptions and were anxious to have the bank run- 
ning. Mr. Seymour was undecided until after his re- 
turn home. He ultimately accepted, returned to Au- 
burn, and began the operation of the celebrated insti- 
tution, with which he has now been connected in an 
official capacity for over fifty years. 

Mr. Seymour has never taken part in political strife, 
and therefore can boast of no civic honors. He holds, 
however, the responsible position of president of a 



558 HWIitKV OF ALTBUK>f. 

bank ; lias been a trustee of the Theological Se\ninary, 
is now a trustee of the U. S. Life and Trust Co., of 
New York, and president of trustees of Cayuga 
Oounty Orphan Asylum, of which institution he was 
one of the originators. His name has been connected 
with every charitable and philanthropic movement 
that has engaged the attention of the people of Au- 
burn during his residence here. 

Captain Geoi^ge Brown Chase was born at Nan- 
tucket, Massachusetts, April 7th, 1785, and like most 
of his playmates was trained for the sea. At the age 
of thirteen he sailed as cabin-boy with his uncle, John 
Brown, upon a three years' voyage to the Pacific Ocean. 
In 1802 he made another voyage of two years to the 
South Pacific, in the capacity of second mate, during 
which he became proficient in harpooning whales, 
which was considered a great accomplishment. From 
that time forward, to 1824, he commanded several fine 
whaling ships, and in that service was very successful. 
During that period of his life he married in Nan- 
tucket. In 1821 a splendid ship was built expressly 
for him at Middletown, Connecticut, and at its launch- 
ing his wife named it the Alexander^ with the usual 
ceremony of cracking a bottle of wine upon its stern. 
In this vessel he made his last voyage, setting sail the 
18th of August, 1821, and arriving in port May 3d, 
1821:. This cruise was made to the coast of Japan, 
where he took 2,970 barrels of sperm, (700 of it in 25 



BIOaRA^PHIES. 559 

days) and a large quantity of whale-bone. Upon his 
return to Nantucket, he found that his wife and daugh- 
ter had died during his absence. He then retired from 
the sea. 

In 1825 he removed, with the surviving members of 
his family, to the city of Hudson ; but during his first 
winter's residence at this place he was burnt out by a 
disastrous fire, and in the following spring he returned 
to Nantucket. Early in 1827 he came to Auburn with 
his family, and bought the Casey farm, of 150 acres, on 
North Street, a portion of which is now occupied by 
his son, George R. Chase ; and with a brief interval 
in 1837 and '38, resided there until his death. 

Captain Chase had the sternness of manner and 
energy of a vigorous sea captain, mingled with a 
high sense of honor and generous hospitality. His 
love of genial company was remarkable. He was 
positive in all his characteristics. His antipathies 
were strong, but were not stronger than liis attach- 
ments. He was naturally enterprising. Finding 
upon his farm an excellent stone-quarry, he suggested 
a more general use of stone for buildings, side- 
walks, and streets, than had ever been made of it 
before. Macadamized streets here are chiefly 
owing to his timely hints of their value. He served 
the public in various capacities. He was trustee 
of his ward under the village charter in 1840 
and '41, and president of the village in 1844 and 



560 HISTORY OF AUBURN. 

'45. He was one of the originators of the Auburn 
Gas-light Company, and was president of that or- 
ganization from its formation, February 16th, 1848, 
to the time of his death, Januarj^ 29th, 1853. His 
remains now repose in a vault built by himself du- 
ring his life time in the North Street cemetery. 

George Casey was born in Poughkeepsie, Dutch- 
ess County, September 20th, 1772. Marrying, at 
the age of eighteen, Jane, daughter of Mr. Christo- 
pher Dutcher, of that county, he thus early entered 
the duties and responsibilities of active life, settled 
upon a farm in Dover (then Fowling), in a beau- 
tiful and fertile region, and devoted himself to ag- 
ricultural pursuits, the engrossing interest of his life. 
He took a deep interest in the political issues of 
the day, and was called to fill several official sta- 
tions. He served in the capacity of Justice of the 
Peace for twelve or thirteen years. He was elected 
supervisor of his town, and at one or more sessions 
of the board was its presiding officer. He was one 
of the assistant Justices of the county court. In 
1807 he was elected to the State Assembly, for 
.the session of 1808, in a canvass of unusual interest, 
involving among other questions the local one of the 
division of the county — Dutchess at that time rank- 
ing next to New York in point of wealth, popula- 
tion and resources. This subject became one of the 
most exciting and engrossing topics of the session. 



BIOGRAPHIES. 561 

After a long, sharp contest, tlie measure, to whicli 
Mr. Casey was opposed, was carried through. In 
this, and other subjects which came before the house 
during that session, he took a prominent part, be- 
ing associated with such prominent and leading men 
of the State as Elisha Williams, Stephen Yan Rens- 
selaer, Thomas R. Gold, Abraham Yan Yechten, 
Sylvanus Miller, and others. In 1809 he received 
the appointment of jx)stmaster at Dover from 
Gideon Granger, the Postmaster General, which 
position he held until his removal from the county. 

Attracted thither by the glowing accounts of the 
richness and resources of the western part of the State, 
its beauty and fertility, its charming lakes and pleas- 
ant streams, its forest scenery, here and there checkered 
with cultivation, its landscapes of gentle swells and 
pleasant valleys, and its genial and invigorating cli- 
mate, Mr. Casey, in the fall of 1813, removed with 
his family to Auburn (then Aurelius), settling on a 
farm in the northern part of the town. In no region 
more healthy and inviting could he have selected a 
spot for his future labors and comfort. The sun never 
shone on a lovelier or more fertile tract — with its stately 
growth of hickories, its giant maples and spreading 
beeches, its towering elms and lindens, with springs 
and streams of the purest water, and the placid 
Owasco, gem of the western lakes, gleaming in the dis- 
tance. The county was a wilderness — the quiet little 
34 



562 HISTOKY OF AUBUKN. 

hamlet of Hardenburgh's Corners, the only feature of I 
bustle and activity, nestling in the forest. 

Uopn the passage of the Act of the Legislature, in 
1819, for erecting the Auburn prison, Mr. Casey was ap- 
pointed on the first Board of Inspectors, the other mem- 
bers being Judge Miller, Judge Glover, John H. Beach, 
and A. Kasson. To the work of organizing the insti- 
tution, its discipline, employment of convicts, selection 
of officials, its records and statistics, and the adoption 
•of means looking as well to the reformation of the of- 
fenders as their punishment, he, with his associates in 
the board, gave much thought, patient stud}'- and 
unwearied attention. 

i Mr. Casey took a prominent interest in the subject 
of education and the establishment of schools and 
academies. He became a zealous inquirer on re- 
ligious subjects, and was an incessant Bible reader. 
Making the study of the Scriptures his delight, he 
learned whole chapters and pages of its contents. In 
religious discussion, in which he frequently mingled, 
he was ever ready with apt quotation from the sacred 
writings. At such times, however, he refrained from 
bitterness and caustic expression. His religious views 
were broad and independent, believing that the doc- 
trine of universal salvation was right and Scriptural, 
and that the Divine Government, in its dealings with 
men, was one of infinite goodness, mercy and com- 
passion. 



BIOGKAPHIES. 563 

With courteous, dignified deportment, refined man- 
ners, and polished address, he was exceedingly plain, 
preferring the garb of homespun to the adornments of 
fashion. He detested foppery in all its phases, and on 
one occasion required his eldest son, tlien a stripling of 
ten, to rehearse in the presence of its venerable author, 
William Ray, the poem on the " Ploughboy and the 
Dandy." His simplicity of dress accorded with the 
truthfulness and sincerity of his character. He had a 
theory that if a man possessed merit, he had but to 
bide his time, and wait for the appreciation and re- 
ward wliich w^as sure to come. A mistaken theory, 
perhaps, as he considered not the scorns and buffets, 

" Which patient merit of the unworthy takes,—" 
and that success in life, in the race for honor and dis- 
tinction^ is as much due to pretension and clap-trap, 
as to solid worth and unostentatious desert. 

While a resident of Auburn, Mr. Casey took no 
prominent part in politics. He gave his time mainly 
to the improvement and cultivation of his farm. Hav- 
ing sold his estate, he removed, in 1829, to Oswego, 
whither his daughter, Mrs. Jehiel Clark, with her hus- 
band and family, had gone the previous year. He then 
purchased a large farm (m the shore of Lake Ontario. 
He was elected and served as one of the magistrates of 
the town. Soon after, he sold his farm and removed to 
Williamson, Wayne County', where his son-in-law, 
Charles M. Nichols, was engaged in the mercantile 



664 HISTORY OF A.UBDRN. 

buBiness. Hence, after an absence of two years, he 
returned to Auburn. 

In 1835, about which time his daughters, Mrs. Hop- 
kins and Mrs. Nichols, had with their families re- 
moved thither, he made a journey to Michigan. He 
there purchased several hundred acres of Government 
lands in Kalamazoo and Calhoun Counties, then re- 
garded as the best of territory. He traveled much 
alone on horseback over the prairies and through the 
wilderness. Exposure to malaria brought on a fever, 
and on reaching Detroit he was prostrated with dis- 
ease. Although kindly attended and faithfully minis- 
tered to in the house of a friend, whom, by the way, he 
had known in Auburn, he died on the 16th of Septem- 
ber, 1835, after a long life of physical and mental 
labor. His end was peace — his record in life that of 
an honest man. His remains were deposited in the 
cemetery at Detroit, whence, twenty-three years later, 
they were removed by his son George to Auburn, and 
there deposited in the North Street cemetery, beside 
those of his faithful and devoted wife, who survived 
him until 1843. 

Of his eleven children four survive : Mr. George 
Casey and Mrs. Wm. Van Tuyl, of Auburn, John M. 
Casey, of Oswego, and Mrs. Hopkins, of Charleston, 
Michigan. 

Joseph L. Richa/pdson was born in Frederick Co., 
Maryland, in the year 17Y6, and came to Cayuga 



BIOGRAPHIES. 565 

County in 1802. He studied law at Aurora, settled 
at Auburn in 1805, and the following year entered 
into co-partnership with Enos T. Throop, in the prac- 
tice of law. Mr. Eichardson was instrumental in the 
removal of the county seat from Aurora to Aubm'n, 
and also an effective advocate of the selection of this 
place as the site of the State prison, of which he was 
for many years inspector. He was District Attorney 
at a time when this Judicial District comprised a great 
portion of Western ISTew York. In the war of 1812, 
he held the position of paymaster of the army, with 
the rank of Major. In the year 1827 he was ap- 
pointed First Judge of Cayuga County, a position he 
held until the adoption of the new constitution, in 
1846, a period of nearly twenty years. 

Judge Eichardson died at his residence in this citv, 
in the month of April, 1853. The preamble and reso- 
lutions adopted at a meeting of the bar of Cayuga 
County, held therefor, comprise a brief and appropri- 
ate summary of his character : 

" Whereas, The recent dispensation of Providence lias removed 
from among us, in the full maturity of years, our distinguished 
elder brother, the Hon. Joseph L. Richardson, a pioneer in the 
early settlement of the county, a prominent citizen, a strong- 
minded and vigorous Judge, the oldest and one of the most distin- 
guished members of the bar of Cayuga, the cotemporary, in his 
prime, and compeer of Spencer and his associates : 

Resolved, That in the death of our distinguished fellow-citizen 
and brother, although not gathered until " fully ripe for the har- 



566 HTSTOKY OF AUBURN. 

vest," yet retaining in a remarliable degree the -vigor of intellect 
and force of character which marked his prime, the bar of Cayuga 
County has lost one of its ablest members. 

Besolved, That in temperance of living, in strictest regard of the 
moral and social requirements of the citizen, in the high-toned 
and fearless discharge of his duties as a Judge, in the vigorous and 
intelligent discharge of his duties as a member of the bar, in the 
strength of his personal attachments, in the purity of his domes- 
tic life, the deceased has set us an example well worthy of imita- 
tion." 

Hon. John Beardsley was born at Southbury, ISTew 
Haven Co., Conn., on the 9tli of November, 1783. 
From the 1st of October, 1798, the time of his father's 
death, he was obliged to rely for support and success 
in the world mainly on his own exertions. He mar- 
ried, in 1804, the wife who now survives him. In the 
month of March, 1808, he removed to this county, 
and purchased and settled upon a farm in Scipio. At 
this time he opened a store in that town, and, for the 
period of eighteen years, carried on mercantile and 
farming business together. During that period he was 
several times elected to various local offices, such as 
Supervisor and Justice of the Peace. On the 23d of 
March, 1820, he was appointed by Grovernor Clinton 
and the Council of Appointment, one of the Associate 
Judges of Cayuga County, and sat as Judge with the 
Hon. Elijah Miller, First Judge, so called, until the 
31st of Januar}^, 1823, when both of them gave way to 
appointees under a new constitution. In years 1832 



BIOGRAPHIES. 56T 

and '33, he represented this comity in the Assembly ; 
and in the fall of '35, he was elected to the State Sen- 
ate from the Seventh District. The following year he 
removed his residence to Auburn, where he spent the 
remainder of his life, in the mansion on Genesee Street, 
now occupied by his widow. In 1840, he became the 
President of the Cayuga County Bank, which position 
he held until the 29th of March, 1843 ; resigning it to 
enter upon the duties of agent of the prison. These 
he discharged with great faithfulness, until his retire- 
ment in 1835. The agency of the Auburn prison was 
the last official position which he held. 

Judge Beardsley was a self-made, industrious, up- 
right, substantial, thrifty man, who was held in verj^ 
high estimation by the community, and particularly 
by his Democratic friends. He was by nature and 
habit a good financier ; and by strict attention to bus- 
iness, while he pretended to be engaged in it, he 
amassed a handsome property. As a neighbor, he was 
sociable, genial, accommodating, and kind. As a citi- 
zen, he was clear-sighted, sound-minded, well-judging, 
and just. And as a legislator and public officer, he 
was faithful to all trusts, careful, considerate, and 
wise. His management of the State prison elicited 
very high commendations in every section of the 
State. 

Upon his retirement from the position of agent of 
the prison, he devoted his time to the cultivation of 



568 HISTORY OF AUBUKN. 

his farm, until physical infirmities obliged him to give 
up all business. lie was ever fond of agricultural pur- 
suits. 

He died May lith, 1857, in the seventy-fourth year 
of his age. His remains are interred in Fort Hill 
cemetery, 

John I. Ilagaman w^as born at ISTine Partners, 
Dutchess Co., I^. Y., on the 21st of March, 1792. At 
an early age he came with his parents to Lodi, Seneca 
County, and was, on attaining a suitable age, appren- 
ticed to John Goltry, Esq., in the trade of a carpenter 
and joiner. His early and passionate fondness for 
architecture, however, led him to buy off his time be- 
fore the expiration of his apprenticeship and devote 
himself to the study of his favorite art. He soon es- 
tablished himself in the business of a master-builder 
and cabinet-maker. In 1820 he went to Groton, 
Cortland Co., for«the purpose of erecting a church 
which he had designed for that village. He came to 
Auburn in October of the following year, and opened 
a school of architectural design. The principal works 
that he performed in this place were the enlargement 
of the First Presbyterian Church, the designing and 
erection of the Second Church edifice in 1830, the 
preparation of the plans of the present court-house and 
town hall, and the building of many of the stores and 
private residences of the place. The village map of 
'36 was projected by him, and he furnished the eleva- 



BIOGRA.PHIES. 569 

tions of the public buildings for the engravings issued 
with it. For many years he was foreman in the 
stone-cutting shop at the prison, superintending the 
dressing of plain and ornamental building-stone for 
edifices of this and many other towns in the State. 

Almost immediately after his removal to Auburn, 
Mr. Hagaman was ordained deacon in the First Church. 
He took a prominent part in the organization of the 
Second Presbyterian Society, by which he was chosen 
elder. For many years he was leader of the choir in 
that church, and he conducted a singing-school — in 
those days an institution of much greater importance 
than in later times. 

In 1843, he returned to Lodi, where he held his 
nominal residence during the rest of his life. The fol- 
lowing year he was employed by the Erie Kailroad 
Co., and three or four years later by the Ohio and 
Mississippi Railroad Company, to project bridges and 
design depots. He remained in their service until his 
death, in October, 1853. 

Deacon Hagaman was always known as a generous, 
patriotic, virtuous, and intelligent man, and led a most 
exemplary Christian life. Being exceedingly tender- 
hearted, he was greatly pained b}' the severe prison 
discipline of his time ; and he often carried in his 
pockets, to the convicts under him, medicine and other 
little articles for the relief of their sufferings. He en- 
tertained a deep love for music and the fine arts. The 



570 HISTOKY OF AUBURN. 

liigh degree of excellence lie attained in the profession 
of an architect showed his great devotion to it. Ex- 
tremely fond of study and reading, he accumulated a 
large and valuable library of architectural works. He 
was highly esteemed by all who knew him, and his re- 
moval from Auburn and subsequent death were deeply 
regretted by the community. 

The surviving members of his family are Mrs. J. 
Rutsen How and Mrs. Benjamin F. Hall, of this city \ 
Mrs. John Hoss, of Yincennes, Ind. ; Mrs. Stephen T. 
Owen, of Big Flats, N. Y. ; and Mrs. E. Stuart Wil- 
son, of Brockport, IST. Y. 

Colonel John Richardson was born in Tauney town- 
ship, Frederick County, Maryland, on the 19th of De- 
cember, 1780 ; and died in Auburn, April 20th, 1849^ 
in the sixty-ninth year of his age. During his youth 
he resided at Baltimore, where he learned and became 
proficient in cabinet-making — a trade he followed 
through life. Upon his arrival at majority, he removed 
to Marietta, Ohio, and there established himself in busi- 
ness. While resident at this place he became ac- 
quainted with the unfortunate Blennerhassett, and 
through him, with Aaron Burr. By the la,tter he was 
solicited to join a secret expedition being then fitted 
out^ — for what purpose, it is not entirely known, even 
at the present day ; but suspecting treasonable designs,^ 
he declined having anything to do with it, thereby in- 
curring the wrath of Blennerhassett. After remaining 



BIOGKAPHIES. 



571 



several years in Marietta, lie descended the Ohio and 
Mississippi Eivers to New Orleans, with a large stock 
of furniture. Having disposed of the same satisfacto- 
rily, he took ship for Philadelphia, in search of a loca- 
tion better suited to his mind. Thence he came to= 
Cayuga County ; and, after a short stay in the town of 
Scipio, came and settled at Auburn in 1809. 

Wlien, in 1812, a call was made for troops to defend 
the frontier, he was among the first to respond. Hav- 
ing raised a volunteer rifle company, of which he was 
chosen captain, he soon entered actual service. He 
was engaged at Fort Erie and Chippewa, where he dis- 
tinguished himself for his presence of mind and daring. 
His gallant conduct drew warm encomiums from his 
superior officers ; and he was subsequently promoted to ' 
the rank of Colonel. 

Upon his return, he resumed his trade of cabinet- 
making, which he pursued, sometimes alone in busi- 
ness, sometimes in partnership with others, during; 
the remaining years of liis life. 

Colonel Kichardson was possessed of many shin- 
ing qualities. He was a steadfast friend, an enter- 
prising and patriotic citizen, and a generous, hon- 
orable, and honest man. The duties of the various 
military and civil positions wliich he held, he per- 
formed with credit to himself and to the satisfac- 
tion of his fellow-citizens. Dm'ing his residence of 
nearly fort}'^ years in Auburn, he was universally. 



."572 HISTORY OF AUBURN. 

known and esteemed ; and his death was sincerely 
regretted by the community. 

Col. John W. HuTbert was born at Alford, Berk- 
; shire County, Massachusetts, in tlie year 1770. He 
was the son of an eminent physician and accom- 
plished gentleman, and was one of a large family 
- of children. In 1793 he was admitted to the Jun- 
ior class in Harvard University, Cambridge, and 
graduated with honors in 1795, While in college 
he was presented by the Faculty with a copy of 
' " Blair's Lectures," for his proficiency in rhetoric 
.and belles-lettres. 

He commenced the practice of law in 1797, and 
soon placed himself at the head of his profession. 
A distinguished member of the Berkshire bar, 
•writing to a friend in this city, spoke of him as 
"the brightest ornament of the bar for honor, 
wit, and eloquence." Mr. Hulbert subsequently re- 
moved to Pittsfield, in the western part of Massa- 
-chusetts, where he pursued his profession with 
; great distinction and success, until he came to New 
York. In 1805 he was elected to the Massachu- 
setts House of Eepresentatives, and during its ses- 
sion took a prominent part in the debates of that 
assembly. He was the cotemporary and associate 
•of such distinguished patriots and orators as Harri- 
;son G. Otis and Fisher Ames. In 1814 he was 
^elected to Congress from Massachusetts, and during 



BIOGEAPHIES. 573^: 

his term of office displayed forensic eloquence, for- 
which he was justly celebrated. 

Mr. Hulbert, or as he was more generally known,. 
Colonel Hulbert, came to this place in 1817. Here, as 
at the place of his former residence, he ranked fore- 
most in his profession. He devoted his time to familyj, 
friends, and clients, rescuing the condemned from pun- 
ishment, and protecting widows and orphans — often 
without hope of reward. ]^ever but once did he fail 
to arrest the hand of the executioner. In the fall of 
1824, he was elected to the State Assembly from this, 
county. The following year, when La Fayette 
passed through Auburn, he addressed him on behalf 
of his fellow-citizens. He died of apoplexy Oc- 
tober 19th, 1831. 

Colonel Hulbert was the most brilliant and emir- 
nent member of the Auburn bar. He was ever dis- 
tinguished for his benevolence, amiability of manuers,. 
inflexible honor, unwavering integrity, and his faithful 
and punctual discharge of duty. In political senti- 
ment he was a Federalist of the "Washington school. 
While he was in Congress, a then leading paper of 
Philadelphia said of him : " There is something in 
everything uttered by Mr. Hulbert, that reaches the 
heart of his auditors or readers. He is an honor to< 
his State, and one of the brightest ornaments of Con- 
gress. He is a Federalist of the right stamp. Were 
all Federalists like him, Federalism w^ould never have 



.57i HISTORY OF AUBURN. 

InciiiTed the opposition of the people.*" The grief 
felt at Colonel Ilulbert's death was testified by the 
•community in a larger funeral than was ever be- 
fore held in Auburn. 

Hon. Enos Thonvpsmi Throoj) was born at Johns- 
town, Montgomery County, ]^ew York, August 21st, 
1Y84. At the age of fourteen he went to Albany, and 
•commenced the study of the classics and law in the 
office of George Metcalfe, an eminent lawyer of 
Johnstown, who had a few months before removed 
to the State capital. Completing his studies under 
other instructors and with other connections, he was 
iidmitted to the bar in Albany, January, 1806. Two 
months later he came to Cayuga County, but did not 
fix his residence at Auburn until l^ovember of the 
same year. The controversy concerning the location 
•of the county seat was then at its height, and Mr. 
Tliroop was instrumental in effecting the selection of 
Auburn for that purpose. The following year he en- 
tered into partnership with the Plon. Joseph L. Rich- 
ardson — afterward, for many years. First Judge of 
this county. This business connection was dissolved 
in 1811, upon his appointment to the office of county 
clerk. About this time he purchased the mill prop- 
erty at the village now called Throopsville ; shortly 
After which purchase the inhabitants, at a public meet- 
ing, named the place Throopsville in compliment to 
him. In the fall of 1814 he was elected to Congress 



BIOGKAl'HIES. 5Y5 

from this district. Mr. Tliroop had been opposed to 
the election of Gov. Clinton in the campaigns of 1817 
and '19. Upon Clinton's re-election, in 1819, it was in- 
timated to Mr. Tliroop, that, unless his opposition 
ceased, he would be removed from the office of county 
clerk ; but the intimation not being heeded, his re- 
moval followed. In April, 1823, he was appointed 
Circuit Judge for the 7th. District, which position he 
held until the fall of 1828, when, receiving the nomi- 
nation for Lieutenant-Governor, with Mr. Yan Buren 
at the head of the ticket, he resigned, in order to ren- 
der himself eligible to tlie latter office. In the en- 
suing campaign he was triumphantly elected. Mr. 
Yan Buren resigned the Governorship in March, 1829, 
in order to accept a position in the cabinet at "Washing- 
ton, and Mr. Throop then became Governor. He was 
re-elected in 1830. In the M^inter of 1833 the posi- 
tion of naval officer of the port of l!Tew York was 
tendered him by President Jackson and accepted. 
This office he retained till 1838, w^hen he was ap- 
pointed charge (Vaffaires to the kingdoms of the two 
Sicilies. Upon the election of Harrison he resigned, 
returned home, and retired from public life. Betak- 
ing himself to his quiet retreat on Owasco Lake — 
Willoio Brook — he sought among agricultural pur- 
suits the rest and happiness best fitted to grace his de- 
clining years. A few years later he transferred his 
property to his nephew, Hon. E. T. T. Martin, and 



576 HISTORY OF AUBURN. 

removed to the vicinity of Kalamazoo, Mich., where 
he indulged his rural taste by purchasing, clearing, and 
cultivating a large farm. He subsequently returned to 
Willow Brook^ to spend the remaining years of his 
life. 

Gov. Throop was one of the earliest settlers of thi& 
place, and one of the most active citizens of that early 
day. He was a member of the first Board of Trustees 
of the village. He was instrumental in changing the 
politics of the county from Federalism to Democracy. 
He was the second postmaster of Auburn ; and he 
took an active part in the establishment of the Bank of 
Auburn. To Gov. Throop the author of " The Lives 
of the Governors of N'ew York " pays this well- 
deserved tribute : 

" Starting in life without adventitious aid, self-reli- 
ant, enterprising, and persevering, he achieved for 
himself an honorable fortune. Force of character and 
energy of purpose enabled him to triumph over every 
obstacle that impeded his way to distinction. Integ- 
rity, without spot or guile, was the polar star that 
guided his footsteps. He has filled, in every instance 
with credit, several of the most important offices in 
the State^and under the General Government, and now, 
as he approaches the close of his well-spent life, he 
presents an example to the young men of !New York, 
worthy of imitation and full of encouragement." 

Deacon Henry Amerman was born in Adams 



BIOGRAPHIES. 



5n 



County, Pennsylvania, in the year 1Y70. Pie was of 
'Dutch descent, his mother being great-granddaughter 
of Simon Van Arsdell, of New Amsterdam — one of 
those honest Dutchmen mentioned by Irving, "whose 
hand weighed one pound and foot weighed two." In 
1801 he came, in company with six other families, 
from his native place, to Owasco, in this county. Here 
he secured a little unused log cabin, fifteen feet by 
twelve, which, with the assistance of his brothers, who 
had removed thither three years before, he soon placed 
in a habitable condition. Before th© ensuing winter 
set in, he purchased a piece of land, cleared it, and 
erected thereon a frame dwelling, twenty-six by 
eighteen feet, where he resided until 1804, when he came 
to Auburn. Having obtained a lot of Colonel Harden- 
burgh, upon the south side of Genesee Street, and east 
of the mills, he built a new frame house, and moved 
into it with his family in November. Hardenburgh's 
Corners, at this time, gave little promise of becoming 
a large city. Mr. Amerman's was the eighth frame 
building in the place. He now established himself in 
the business of a saddle and harness-maker, many of 
his customers being Indians from the camp on the pres- 
ent site of the prison. In 1806 he converted his resi- 
dence and shop into a tavern, and commenced keeping 
boarders. The same year Colonel Hardenburgh died, 
and Mr. Amerman was appointed one of the administra- 
tors of his estate. His duties were very arduous, as 
35 



578 HISTORY OF AUBUEN. 

the affairs of the deceased were left in an extremely 
complicated condition. 

In 1809, he was chosen captain of the Auburn mili- 
tia company ; and in the War of 1812-14, he marched 
out as far as Canandaigua at the head of his company, 
though he did not see active service. 

Mr. Amerman was one of the four who pledged 
the commissioners that the land for the original court- 
house should be free of expense to the county. He 
saw the site of that edifice staked out. He attended 
the meeting at which the name of Auburn was chosen 
for this place. Having sold his property in 1816, 
he purchased and removed to the Center House, where 
he kept tavern until 1822. While he was landlord of 
the Center House, the long room of that tavern was 
used for many public meetings — meetings for the dis- 
cussion of public enterprises, prayer-meetings, confer- 
ences. Sabbath schools, and singing schools. ' It is be- 
lieved that the first Sunday school organized west of 
Albany was held at the Center House. In 1817 Mr. 
Amerman was chosen one of the elders of the First 
Presbyterian Church of Auburn, in the organization 
of which he had taken a part. He witnessed the lay- 
ing of the corner-stone of the edifice of that society, 
and boarded many of the workmen engaged in its con- 
struction. For a number of years he was Overseer of 
the Poor of this place, performing the arduous duties 
of his office with signal faithfulness and ability. Upon 



BIOGKi^PHIES. 579 

his disposal of the Center House, he removed to a 
house on Garden Street, which stood on a piece of land 
now occupied by the south-eastern corner of the N. Y. 
0. R. R. depot. After a residence of five years in this 
house, he purchased a farm near Centreport, about 
seven miles north of Auburn, and removed thither 
with his family. Here he has spent the subsequent 
years of his life, living to a ripe old age, and enjoying 
in this, his 93d year, the use of his faculties to a re- 
markable degree. 

Deacon Amerman was one of the earliest settlers of 
Auburn — the oldest now surviving. During his resi- 
dence of twenty-three years in this place, he was ever 
known as an enterprising, energetic, kind-hearted, pa- 
triotic, honest, and honorable citizen ; and nothing has 
he since done, in his quiet rural life, to forfeit that 
well-deserved reputation. 



THE END. 



EEEATA. 



The reader will be pleased to correct the fol lowing; 
mistakes and omissions with his pen. 

Page 34, 8th line— For " double," read " both." 
35, 14th " — For " were," read " was." 
38, 24th " —Insert " and resulted," after " County." 
49, 34th " —For " branch," read " bank." 
68, 19th " —For " was," read " were." 
83, 8th " —For " July," read " June." 
107, 6th " —For " same," read " present." 
136, 6th " —For " on," read " in." 
136, 21st " —For " Hubbard," read "Hulbert." 
162, 11th i' —For " Alvah" read " Allen." 
209, 15th" — For "revelation," read "revulsion." 
299, 6th " — For " and some," read " in some." 
301, 18th " —For "gap," read "gate." 
316, 21st " — For " ordinary," read " ordering." 
319, 10th " —For " these," read " three." 
322, 4th " —For " say," read " day." 
456, 2d " — Insert " the payment of a bounty," after 

" 1864." 
512, 28th " —For " 1846," read " 1848." 
Whenever the name " Daniel Hyde" occurs, read " Dan Hyde.' 



